The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
As the sequel to 2017’s “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” (**** OUT OF ****) is far funnier and even more satirical than its hyperactive predecessor. Actress Elodie Yung is the only cast member who doesn’t reprise her role as Michael Bryce’s girlfriend Interpol Agent Amelia Roussel. Scenarists Tom O’Connor and Philip & Brandon Murphy make no mention of Agent Roussel’s absence in their screenplay. Nevertheless, supporting characters in the original film encore in cameos, including Richard E. Grant as the paranoid accountant Seifert who sought Bryce’s services after the disastrous airport debacle involving an infamous Asian executive Kurosawa (Tsuwayuki Saotome). Moreover, we learn about the circumstances surrounding Darius Kincaid’s incredible shot that put Kurosawa in a coffin. A similar group of nuns that accompanied Michael and
Darius on the bus in the original appear on ferry with Michael and Sonia. Salma Hayek’s role has been considerably expanded. She takes front and center rather than loiters on the periphery. The latest cast addition is Morgan Freeman. Not only does he play Michael’s adopted father, but he also is a bodyguard himself, who has amassed more accolades than Michael. We learn about Michael’s aversion to Gelato ice cream. Tough guy actor Frank Grillo is cast as an abrasive Boston detective inexplicably reassigned to Interpol who strongarms Michael and Darius into their latest escapade. “Expendables 3” director Patrick Hughes, who directed “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” is back at the helm, and he has conjured up some spectacular stunts for our heroes to survive as they contend with a madcap Greek villain, played with suave aplomb by Spanish actor Antonio Banderas. Like the original film, “The
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” takes place primarily in Europe as well as on the Mediterranean, though it was filmed largely in Croatia.
“The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” opens with our grieving hero Michael Bryce still reeling from the loss of his Triple-A-Bodyguard license because Darius killed his most important client. We find Michael flat on a couch in a psychiatrist’s office as the action unfolds. The psychiatrist (Rebecca Front of “Marionette”) suggests Michael stash his guns and enjoy a nice vacation on the picturesque limestone island of Capri in southern Italy and maintain a daily journal about his recovery. Meantime, Bryce is still obsessed with facing a tribunal so he can get his Triple-A-Bodyguard rated license back. His shrink compromises with Michael and allows him to keep his penknife as long as he dispenses with his firearms. Meantime, the na