Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard: Star-studded film sequel decimated by critics

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard has been torn apart by critics ahead of its cinema release next week, with reviewers branding it as “nonsense”. Let’s call the whole thing fun-exhausting… The story scarcely pretends to add up to anything plausible or logical, and the ‘relationships’ often feel like they’ve been shaken and stirred in a blender of comic-book nonsense.” Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard The Hollywood Reporter’s John Defore said: “Screenwriters Tom O’Connor, Phillip Murphy and Brandon Murphy display no interest in how credible characters – even cartoonishly exaggerated comic ones – might really behave under circumstances like these, which wouldn’t be so bad if the movie were funnier. These actors deserve much better, and so do their fans.” The headline for The AV Club’s review, meanwhile, was: “Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is so atrocious, it makes the original look like a classic.” The site’s critic AA Dowd said that “even by action-comedy standards, the villain’s plan is pure nonsense”. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free He wrote: “The film keeps goofing on the gags of the original, which again might be funny if, well, the goofs were funny.” Deadline’s Pete Hammond was not keen either, writing a review headlined: “Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson & Salma Hayek valiantly try to save frenetic action comedy from itself.” However, he did add: “As escapist summertime fodder, and a reason to chomp down some popcorn, you could do a lot worse.