Ryan Reynolds plus Salma Hayek plus Sam Jackson equals violent mayhem. There is nothing not to love in this equation.
Released kind of out of nowhere in August 2017, The Hitman's Bodyguard wasn't an amazing movie - 43% on Rotten Tomatoes feels about right - but it was a proper example of turn-brain-off-and-just-have-fun.
A callback to the violent buddy cop action-comedies of the 80s and 90s, the pairing of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson was a great one, and audiences seemed to agree, with the movie banking over $175 million on a $30 million budget.
Jump forward four years, and the sequel has similarly arrived somewhat under the radar, with Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard focusing on Jackson's on-screen wife (Salma Hayek), dragging Reynolds out of his self-imposed retirement from the world of bodyguarding.
The sequel also adds Antonio Banderas, Morgan Freeman and Frank Grillo to the expanding cast-list, and the switched-up core dynamic of Jackson and Hayek constantly making fun of a suddenly-pacificist Reynolds looks to bring some genuine laughs.
Like we said above, this seems to be exactly the kind of fun movie we all need in our lives right now.
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard is currently scheduled to arrive in UK cinemas on Wednesday, 23 June, so we'll see if Irish cinemas have reopened by then, too.
Clip via Lionsgate UK
