THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD (15)
In 2017, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson headlined the high-stakes action comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard directed by Patrick Hughes, playing one of the best protection agents in the business and a top assassin respectively.
The Hollywood stars reprise their roles in a turbo-charged sequel with Hughes back at the helm.
Fresh from their last lifethreatening mission, bodyguard Michael Bryce (Reynolds) and hit man Darius Kincaid (Jackson) are propelled back into each other’s orbits when Darius’s wife, international con artist Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek), gets into a spot of bother.
Bryce is driven to the brink of madness trying to keep the couple alive as he navigates a global plot masterminded by megalomaniac Aristotle Papadopolous (Antonio Banderas).
The original film was beset with miss-and-hit irreverence, loopy plotting and tonal inconsistencies and those flaws are evident in this sequel.
A heavy reliance on profanity for laughs becomes wearisome.
Frantic pacing extends to action sequences including a triptych of simultaneous brawls, which surrender clarity to rapidfire editing.
In cinemas from Friday