[Blu-Ray Review] ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’: Now Available On 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital From Summit – Lionsgate

The Hitman’s Bodyguard [Blu-Ray]

Director: Patrick Hughes

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman

Release Date: November 21, 2017

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 6.5/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

The world’s top protection agent (Reynolds) is called upon to guard the life of his mortal enemy, one of the world’s most notorious hitmen (Jackson). The relentless bodyguard and manipulative assassin have been on the opposite end of the bullet for years, and are thrown together for a wildly outrageous 24 hours. During their raucous and hilarious adventure from England to the Hague, they encounter high-speed car chases, outlandish boat escapades, and a merciless Eastern European dictator (Oldman) who is out for blood. Hayek joins the mayhem as Jackson’s equally notorious wife.

Get ready for some hilarious over the top laughs and action-packed fun in ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’. The film follows private security specialist Michael Bryce (Reynolds) who following an unfortunate event years prior is attempting to rebuild his name in the field. When an old associate who Bryce can’t help but be drawn to enlists him to protect the deadly and infuriating assassin Darius Kincaid (Jackson) who Bryce downright despises following numerous previous encounters, he soon finds himself dragged across the globe and thrown into one explosive gunfight after another as he and Kincaid leave a path of bodies in their wake as he attempts to deliver the assassin as a key witness against a ruthless criminal before the provided deadline.

Directed by Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3) from a screenplay written by Tom O’Connor (Fire with Fire), Hughes does a solid job at the helm of ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ guiding along this hilarious and wildly action-packed trip across the globe with ease. The film also owes its share of credit to the well selected cast comprised of some talented and well known individuals and including Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight), Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight), Salma Hayek (Everly), Elodie Yung (TV’s Daredevil) and Joaquim de Almeida (Fast Five) along with more, nearly all of which deliver fitting performances in each of their respective roles, yet the pairing of Reynolds and Jackson is definitely the real win here as the two play off each other brilliantly.

‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ is a slick, funny and just plain fun action comedy with no shortage of bloody and explosive action sequences to balance the offensive humor and constant, amusing bickering between our leads that rarely fails to elicit a laugh or a grin at the very least. It’s certainly a wildly enjoyable flick, but that’s not to say it doesn’t have some problems, particularly the repetitive style which tends to find our leads in the same situations time and again, with only some mild alterations to the scenery and action. The film also seems to largely be a vehicle for providing Jackson the most opportunities possible to deliver various alterations of his infamous “Mother F’er” lines which while often hilarious nonetheless becomes a bit excessive. Fortunately the lack of originality doesn’t derail the film too drastically and the simple, unoriginal fun becomes charming in its own right. Effortlessly guided along its explosive course by director Patrick Hughes, his competent guidance is boosted all the more by a capable cast led by Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson who both deliver enjoyable performances that mesh together splendidly. ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ undeniably has its share of issues, but many of the faults can be ignored in the moment and I would still encourage anyone that enjoys the antics of Reynolds and/or Jackson as well as those that enjoy a goofy, wildly explosive and consistently hilarious action comedy to try and make a point of giving this one a chance when you have the opportunity to do so.

Overall, ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ is wildly entertaining and consistently hilarious ride with no shortage of action-packed insanity and explosive antics to compliment the comedy around every turn. It’s a bloody, goofy and over the top adventure with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson free to do their thing and the resulting banter and overall hilarity rarely falls flat. Albeit not a terrific movie in many aspects, ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ is still highly recommended, especially for hardcore fans of the two leads and anyone that appreciates an easygoing, insanely action packed and offensively hilarious action comedy that concentrates more on having fun than doing anything extraordinary which can occasionally be the best route. For anyone already at all interested in the film, as well as anyone seeking an enjoyable and amusing ride that doesn’t require your devoted attention at every moment for a simple evening’s viewing ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ should make a perfect selection and should also probably be well worth dishing out the rental cost for.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks outstanding as a whole and provides a sharp, detailed and clean presentation from start to finish. It holds up impressively even during the numerous fast moving, heavily populated and often darkly lit sequences, never allowing anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a wonderful high definition video presentation that should have no trouble satisfying fans of the film and casual viewers alike.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack delivers a crisp, clean and insanely aggressive audio presentation throughout. It constantly takes full advantage of all seven available channels in order to send a plethora of bullets, debris, car activity, crowd chatter and a whole lot more regularly zipping throughout the various speakers, and always making certain that any dialogue or other simultaneously occurring audio elements remain clean and fully audible. Overall, this is a magnificent Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that contributes a great deal of additional fun to the viewing experience and should thrill even the pickiest of audiophiles.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ includes some amusing extras that fans of the film are likely to enjoy. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Patrick Hughes’ in addition to some ‘Deleted Scenes’ (running approximately 5 minutes in length altogether), ‘Extended Scenes’ (running approximately 3 minutes in total) and ‘Alternate Scenes’ (approximately 3 minutes combined) from the movie. We are also treated to a fun collection of ‘Outtakes’ (approximately 5 minutes) and a few behind the Scenes Featurettes that include interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are: ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard: A Love Story’ (running approximately 9 minutes), ‘Dangerous Women’ (approximately 8 minutes), ‘Big Action in a Big World’ (8 minutes) and ‘Hitman vs. Bodyguard’ (4 minutes).