Funny way to create balance

THE Hitman’s Bodyguard is a cliche just about as old as Hollywood, which is one reason it seems to be getting a pretty lukewarm critical response.

But the funny thing about cliches is that, when done right, they demonstrate exactly why they have become so popular as to become overdone.

I certainly don’t think The Hitman’s Bodyguard is reinventing the odd-couple/action/pursuit film genre, though, not for a moment. This flick is just about as straightdown-the-line as they come.

For this kind of movie to work — and they can work — it relies entirely on the chemistry between the two leads, and in this case that relationship is spot-on.

Ryan Reynolds stars as Michael Bryce, a former elite bodyguard who lost his prestige status after losing a high-profile client. Currently relegated to less glamorous jobs protecting unpopular lawyers and the like, it is safe to say he is stuck in a rut.

But he gets his chance to prove himself again when he is roped into a top-secret assignment, escorting a key witness to the human rights court in The Hague to testify against a ruthless war criminal (Gary Oldman).

But that witness turns out to be Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), an internationally infamous assassin who has crossed paths with Bryce in the past. And they don’t exactly love each other.

On their way to The Hague they are pursued by both Interpol trying to recapture Kincaid, and mercenaries trying to kill Kincaid before he can testify.

So there’s your set-up for the latest bog-standard action movie about two mismatched action heroes who have to stick together to keep each other alive. We’ve seen this before.

But it really is the interplay between Reynolds and Jackson that holds it all together. They are brilliant together.

Reynolds’ “straight guy” comedic delivery is as dry as gin and tonic, while Jackson just has to do his usual schtick and let his characteristic swagger and bombast provide all the laughs.

There is a great balance here, the banter is sharp, the funny lines are delivered with absolute precision, and despite the very predictable nature of the story, I found myself laughing loudly and often all the way through.

We’re not reinventing the wheel here, and given director Patrick

MARTAIN

Hughes’ relative inexperience (this is his third feature film, his first the testosterone-laden boom-fest Expendables 3) he hasn’t taken any great risks with the standard tropes and style.

It certainly has its problems as a movie. The shaky-cam in some action scenes was plain irritating, the big globs of exposition delivered by on-the-scene reporters were laughable, and the plot has some pretty weak spots.

Something that bothered me at the outset was why would Interpol be hunting Kincaid like a fugitive when they were transporting him in the first place, and he had no reason to evade them? There is some pretty vague and sloppy explanation offered in there, but it doesn’t help much. It is just a contrivance to make sure the good guys are being hunted by both sides. Oh, the irony, right?

Fortunately the movie cracks along at such high speed that I didn’t get much time to be annoyed about this.

There is also a lot of pretty thin moralising between Bryce and Kincaid about which of them is the bigger monster: the guy who kills for a living, or the guy who protects bad people for a living?

It was kinda fun for a while, until it became clear it was going nowhere. The script was never really working towards any kind of conclusion or enlightening moment with this ethical intercourse, it was just another contrivance to create more head-butting banter between the characters.

But when these two have something to really argue about, that’s when things get fun.

The distinctly American disdain for European police agency Interpol feels like some pretty lazy pointscoring at times, but also leads to some funny moments here and there.

Fortunately, none of this matters too much because with Reynolds and Jackson pumping the action along with their excellent chemistry, perfect comedic delivery and clear confidence in their typecast roles, The Hitman’s Bodyguard is just bloody good fun, an action movie that (refreshingly) doesn’t take itself too seriously.

It’s all a bit forgettable, it’s not a very quotable movie, it’s not innovative or mould-breaking, and you could probably anticipate the final scenes as soon as you’ve watched the opening ones.

But as an action movie, it’s a pretty good one. And at least there’s plenty of decent laughs to smooth over the shabby bits.

is now showing at Cmax and Village Cinemas, rated MA15 Rating: