Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 6, 2021

Ryan Reynolds seems to be one of the few established actors in Hollywood who has a genuine sense of humor about himself and his sometimes errant career, as evidenced by this hilarious (if bloody) snippet from Deadpool 2 where our time travelling hero goes back a few years in order to prevent an impending disaster of horrifying magnitude. Reynolds obviously rebounded pretty effectively from Green Lantern, and is in fact enjoying pretty laudatory critical reactions to Free Guy as this review is being written, so anyone who may worry a bit that The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard doesn't measure up to The Hitman's Bodyguard can probably put any concerns to rest. I was (hopefully) completely clear in our The Hitman's Bodyguard Blu-ray review that I found the first film offered nearly everything "turned up to 11", and some may argue that this sequel only "improves" (?) on that by turning things up to 12 (or possibly higher), something that may ultimately actually work against the film in the long run. But as I did with The Hitman's Bodyguard, I found this sophomore effort to be laugh out loud hilarious quite a bit of the time, though once again its humor is often derived from people screaming undeleted expletives at each other, as well as from absolutely lunatic action set pieces that offer sight gags like erstwhile triple A rated bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) attempting to subdue a nemesis with pepper spray until Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek) simply dispatches the bad guy with a blood splattering bullet to the noggin.

Bryce is perhaps understandably suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and in analysis after the events of The Hitman's Bodyguard as this film opens, though it's clear that his therapist is more than happy to just pronounce him "cured" to get him out of her hair. She does suggest he give up bodyguarding and guns for a while and clean his psychological palette by going on vacation, which sends the film on the first of its globe trotting proclivities to Capri, where Michael does seem to be finding a shred of inner peace - at least until Sonia shows up, guns a-blazin', in just the first of several shootouts the simply erupt out of nowhere, frankly make little to no sense, and then recede into the background until the next fracas occurs.

What initially is a "rescue" mission initiated by Sonia to free Darius (Samuel L. Jackson) from Mafia types of course morphs rather quickly (after yet another completely insane shootout scene) into these three mismatched people forced into a partnership of sorts by a harried Interpol agent named Bobby O'Neill (Frank Grillo). O'Neill is hot on the trail of a huge conspiracy masterminded by arch villain Aristotle Papadopoulos (Antonia Banderas), a supposed Greek magnate who is out to destroy the European Union's data centers and infrastructure if the group follows through with planned sanctions on Greece. That element gives a rather odd "ripped from the headlines" aspect that is decidedly at odds with the otherwise cartoonish exploits on hand, and may in fact provide one of the film's bigger (unintentional) laughs.

If the assessment of my colleague Brian Orndorf is any indication, I'm probably in the decided minority in terms of my generally favorable reaction to much of the comedy. Yes, this is a relentlessly frenetic exercise, and so will no doubt induce absolute annoyance in some, but for those willing to deal with the completely gonzo sensibility that suffuses the film, there may in fact be at least a laugh or two, at least for those who share my juvenile enjoyment in watching a comedically astute actor like Ryan Reynolds get the veritable crap kicked out of him for an hour and a half, looking for all the world kind of like he did after Deadpool paid him a visit per the link posted above.

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 Blu-ray.

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films and Summit Entertainment with a 2160p transfer in 2.38:1. The IMDb lists several Arri models and a 4K DI as relevant data points. This 4K version offers some noticeable upticks in fine detail in particular across the board of the film's running time, while offering some interesting new highlights courtesy of Dolby Vision and/or HDR. While the film hasn't been overly aggressively graded (commendably, in my not so humble opinion), there are some breathtaking vistas and a lot of location material where an already impressive 1080 palette is more deeply saturated and any number of background tones, like the kind of green office walls in Michael's therapist office, to some almost buttery yellows for the few moments Michael is enjoying his "vacation" before Sonia shows up, finding new luster in this version. The increased resolution here probably does no major favors for some already pretty soft looking CGI, and some of the effects in some of the chase scenes in particular look considerably less well detailed than the bulk of the presentation. My hunch that some stock footage may have been used for establishing shots is reinforced by a noticeable if slight downgrade in clarity in just a few passing moments. As I mentioned in our Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Blu-ray review, there are some weird if scattered anomalies that show up from time to time which I found more noticeable (and therefore distracting) in the 4K UHD version than in the 1080 version, where either there was a malfunctioning lens or something happened along the way to create a "smeary" out of focus look in just parts of the frame. Three places you can see this odd situation are in the opening dream sequence where Michael first takes the podium at the AAA awards, and then later when Michael and Sonia are in a kind of archway as Sonia eats a banana, and, after that, a club scene where Sonia and Michael attempt to take possession of a valuable briefcase.

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard has a bombastic Dolby Atmos track that provides regular engagement of the surround channels, and at least intermittent engagement of the Atmos channels, throughout the film. A variety of things going boom or violent crashes, shootouts and hand to hand combat provide regular opportunities for a veritable glut of sound effects to careen around (and at times, over) the listener. The rote but propulsive score also spreads convincingly through the side and rear channels, and some scenes, like two raucous sequences set in clubs or bars, provide a wealth of background clamor spilling into the surround channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles are available.

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Ryan, Sam, Salma: One F'd Up Family (HD; 9:09) is an enjoyable mixture of snippets from the film and interstitial interviews.


• Gone Soft: The New Michael Bryce (HD; 7:22) offers more of the same, albeit ostensibly focusing on Bryce's "arc".


• Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard: #stuntlife (HD; 7:47) is an engaging look at some of the film's over the top action sequences. Interview subjects include Stunt Coordinator Adam Horton.


• On the Set of Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (HD; 4:02) features production designer Russell del Rozario offering a mini-tour which includes a look at how he dressed the nautically themed bar that has one of the film's more memorable sequences.


• Gag Reel (HD; 4:40)


• Theatrical Trailers (HD; 4:41) offers red band trailers for both Hitman's Bodyguard films.

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard is noisy, chaotic, over the top and kind of ultimately a little exhausting, but I personally found it pretty funny quite a bit of the time. Some of the running gags, including the "friskiness" of Darius and Sonia definitely overstay their welcome, but Reynolds in particular is such an appealing presence as a Job-like character having all sorts of bad things happen to him that the film attains a kind of potent lunatic humor. Technical merits are generally great, with good improvements in both detail levels and nuance in the palette in the 4K UHD version, and the supplementary package enjoyable, for those who are considering making a purchase.