An Underrated Ryan Reynolds Movie Is Crushing It On Free Streaming
A Ryan Reynolds movie is really getting a second life on free streaming and this one is definitely worth checking out for the laughs
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Ryan Reynolds has become a star’s star in Hollywood, now consistently putting out some of the biggest hits and blockbusters the industry has to offer. It’s a testament to his personality and charisma on screen that he can turn just about any production into a hit. Just this calendar year he has some of the most-watched movies around. So it would make sense that at any given time a Ryan Reynolds movie would be streaming and killing it with an audience. And that’s the case this week with one of his more underrated movies (if such a thing exists) performing really well on IMDb TV where it’s streaming totally for free. That would be The Hitman’s Bodyguard and you’ll want to check this one out for its star power alone.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard is just an action movie through and through. It stars Ryan Reynolds as Michael Bryce, a contract killer who is heavy on the technical skills needed to complete the “job” while also dealing the one-liners the actor has become known for over the years. He’s sent to protect another hitman, this dude one of the most lethal of them all, and crazy to boot. That would be Samuel L. Jackson’s, Darius Kincaid. The two are heavily at odds and have been over the years, but now need to team up to take down a dictator who is trying to kill both. Check out Ryan Reynolds in the trailer for The Hitman’s Bodyguard.
This is your typical action fare romp of a movie with the action sequences meant to dial up the adrenaline while Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson keep the mood lighter on the dialogue side. That’s a winning formula and we can see how the interplay between the two works on a cinematic level. In some ways, it seems like both actors are just playing themselves in this one as they navigate a seemingly never-ending group of hired guns out to take them down. It’s utterly ridiculous, but that’s kind of the point and why movies like this are made in the first place.
This was director Patrick Hughes’s third feature-length film and he had just done The Expendables 3 a few years before. It was his first time working with Ryan Reynolds, but it wouldn’t be the last. Hughes ended up directing the sequel, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard a couple of years later. He’s also set to helm The Man From Toronto which will hit theaters later this year. The guy has a certain penchant for assassin films and his next one will carry many of the same themes.
In addition to Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, The Hitman’s Bodyguard also features Salma Hayek as Sonia Kincaid, Darius’s wife. She plays a part here but is an even bigger part of the sequel when, of course, Ryan Reynolds is tasked with protecting her from the outset. Also involved is Gary Oldman as a ruthless dictator, Elodie Yung, Joaquim de Almeida, and Barry Atsma. And of course, there are the many faceless killers who end up dying at the hands of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson.
Because it’s a fun movie, is non-stop action, and has a box office draw like Ryan Reynolds, The Hitman’s Bodyguard did very well at the theaters, hitting $177 million on its roughly $60 million budget. That was one thing that helped get a sequel made in the first place because it wasn’t like the critical reception was fantastic. The movie hit just 44% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics saying it was mindless and silly. But of course, that’s kind of the point with movies like this one. We don’t need to think critically about every film. Some of them can just escapism action and that’s good enough. Ryan Reynolds can help carry the day in flicks like this one.
This past year has been a good one for Ryan Reynolds with Free Guy crushing it last summer, Red Notice becoming Netflix’s most-watched original movie, and The Adam Project a hit for the streamer as well. He’ll be teaming back up with the director of two of those, Shawn Levy, when they bring Deadpool 3 to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the meantime, check out The Hitman’s Bodyguard streaming free on IMDb TV.
