The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is a sequel to 2017’s fun, action-comedy, The Hitman’s Bodyguard. In the original, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson played the mismatched title characters.  Michael Bryce (Reynolds) is a bodyguard and Jackson is hitman Darius Kincaid. The pair team up to help Kincaid stay alive in order to testify against an evil dictator played by played by film legend Gary Oldman.

This time round the film starts with Bryce in therapy and still traumatised over the events that took place in the first film. Bryce, now a suspended bodyguard, is haunted by Kincaid killing the person that Bryce was assigned to protect. Following the advice of his therapist, Bryce takes a sabbatical break in Capri, Italy. While relaxing at a resort and clearing his mind of all things work related, it is not long before Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek), Darius’s wife, shows up, while being pursued and shot at by mobsters. Sonia drags Bryce back into a world of full of violence and mayhem. At first Bryce tries to resist but Sonia pleads with Bryce for his help to rescue Darius, who is currently being held captive and has specifically asked for Bryce’s help. Bryce reluctantly agrees and tries to convince Sonia not to kill any more bad guys. However, little does he know that Sonia is even more bat-shit crazy than her husband. Once rescued, Darius and Sonia try to continue with their own honeymoon until Interpol agent Bobby O’Neil (Frank Grillo) captures Bryce along with the Kincaids and forces them to locate the evil terrorist mastermind Aristotle Papadopoulos. Just as things could not get any worse for Bryce, who simply wanted a peaceful break, now finds himself being mentally and physically tortured while trying to keep up with Mr and Mrs Kincaid, who are currently trying to start a family of their own. We also learn more of Sonia’s con-artist past, as well as Bryce facing his own past as he comes face to face with a family distant member. There are several surprises in the film that even some of the trailers do not give away and I also do not want to spoil. These surprises add to my enjoyment of the film.

As a sequel we are also treated to something that the first film teased but never gave enough of, the scene-stealing, presence of Salma Hayek. Ever since first gracing the screens in 1995’s Desperado as Carolina, Salma has proven herself as a hard-working, elegant and dazzling actress who has appeared in iconic films and masterpieces such as From Dusk ‘til Dawn and Frida. No matter what the genre is, Salma always been capable of delivering memorable performances and in this film, she continues and excels. This time as the leading actress in a violent, action comedy and given dialogue full of swearing, Salma does not hold back as she uses her charming Mexican accent for dialogue riddled with cute swear words in both Spanish and English.

There is also plenty of wisecrack banter between Reynolds and Jackson. Hayek’s character Sonia also joins in on the fun, in one scene she kills multiple bad guys in cold-blood without batting an eyelid and then in another she talks tenderly to Bryce and sings him a lullaby. The supporting cast including Frank Grillo all play along with the plot, making the most of what they have been given.

The Hitman’s Wife's Bodyguard is the film equivalent of rock & roll. It is obnoxiously, unashamedly loud and makes no apologies. The action scenes are slick and feature great car and boat chases in exotic locations. The question now is will there be a threequel and will the title be The Hitman’s Baby’s Bodyguard?

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