The Hitman's Bodyguard
Lionsgate | Release Date: August 18, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
25
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAug 16, 2017
An end-of-summer burst of adrenaline, The Hitman’s Bodyguard promises nothing more and nothing less. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyAug 16, 2017
Even by the junk-food standards of summer action comedies, The Hitman’s Bodyguard is overlong, over-violent, and over the top. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 17, 2017
There’s nothing and no one to like in The Hitman’s Bodyguard. This is one loud, generic, forgettable late summer action flick. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 17, 2017
The result is passable stupidity leaning hard on its wily leading men. The movie’s also pretty galling in its unceasing brutality for laughs. Read full review
40
EmpireIan FreerAug 23, 2017
The leads work hard and there’s an attempt to add fun via cheesy music and Salma Hayek, but hackneyed dynamics, half-baked action sequences and saying “m#th&rf$ck*r” does not a Shane Black make. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattAug 10, 2017
The Hitman’s Bodyguard is strictly an Economy Coach experience, but it’s brainlessly fun enough in a late-’90s Brett Ratner buddy-comedy kind of way. Read full review
65
IGNAlex WelchAug 10, 2017
The film knows what it is, and lives in its ridiculous skin with an infectious, gleeful attitude. Unfortunately, The Hitman’s Bodyguard also doesn’t know when to say goodbye, and as a result, overstays it’s welcome. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid EhrlichAug 15, 2017
A half-assed action-comedy that lacks the courage to commit to its own premise. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangAug 17, 2017
Uncertain whether to be a cheerfully weightless killing spree, an earnest odd-couple comedy or, most hilariously, a straight-faced Eastern European political thriller, Tom O’Connor’s screenplay falls back on shopworn snark and half-baked bromantic attitudes. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 16, 2017
Laugh-out-loud funny? Yes. It’s just a pity that the “more is better” bodycount sours the picture long before its drawn-out ending spoils the punchline. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Aug 16, 2017
The Hitman’s Bodyguard is a movie for anyone who just wants to see Samuel L. Jackson curse, Ryan Reynolds smirk and Salma Hayek kick butt while looking absolutely incredible. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaAug 24, 2017
The whole film feels slightly grubby and low-res, like it’s been languishing in private mode on the filmmakers’ pre-HD YouTube page since 2008. Read full review
25
New York PostSara StewartAug 17, 2017
Interspersed with the gore is banter between the leads, who fall into a predictable odd-couple pairing of fussy (Reynolds) and gonzo (Jackson). Their rapport is amusing, but entirely, clumsily incongruous with the thuggish mayhem all around them. Read full review
50
Paste MagazineTim GriersonAug 16, 2017
An assembly line of ostensibly “hip” gestures and snarky attitude, The Hitman’s Bodyguard wants very badly to be a naughty, R-rated guilty pleasure. Nobody tell its makers that it’s mostly just mildly boring. Read full review
75
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonAug 16, 2017
It’s an obvious formula, but when the movie sticks to it, it works well enough; Reynolds and Jackson have pretty decent chemistry. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 18, 2017
For me, The Hitman’s Bodyguard is the epitome of what a summer movie should be. There’s sufficient spectacle to satisfy the “wow!” factor, some hammy performances by actors in their wheelhouses, a half-dozen solid laughs, and a script that, if not likely to be called “clever” or “smart”, doesn’t demand a frontal lobotomy to be enjoyed. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaAug 18, 2017
While no one is going to mistake The Hitman’s Bodyguard for high art, it will please those in the mood for late-summer fun. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 17, 2017
Reynolds and Jackson make this summer lunacy go down easy with their banter and bullet-dodging skills. They're the only reason that The Hitman’s Bodyguard doesn't completely sink into the generic quicksand from whence it came. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAug 16, 2017
Salma Hayek stands out in a comic role as the hitman’s impossibly vulgar, assertive wife. It’s also worth noting that there are lots of car chases here, and they actually aren’t boring. That qualifies as a rare achievement. Read full review
50
Screen DailyNikki BaughanAug 10, 2017
By betting everything on the chemistry between its two leads, a tired formula and by-the-numbers action, The Hitman’s Bodyguard misses the mark. Read full review
70
ScreenCrushMatt SingerAug 17, 2017
The Hitman’s Bodyguard is not the best movie of the summer, but it is easily its most pleasant surprise. An unapologetically violent and vulgar buddy action comedy, it updates the template set forth by Lethal Weapon and particularly Midnight Run for a new era. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDerek SmithAug 14, 2017
Because it so consistently fails to meld its comic sensibilities and love stories with its generic action premise into a seamless whole, The Hitman's Bodyguard sometimes just appears to be parodying the sort of mess it ends up being. Read full review
58
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallAug 17, 2017
Director Patrick Hughes' instinct isn't to find dark humor in violence, only to graphically depict it. There's a sadistic edge to The Hitman's Bodyguard that's unbecoming to its comedy. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 16, 2017
The Hitman’s Bodyguard, which bears the tagline “Get triggered” and is essentially a dumber, tackier "Midnight Run," was destined to be one of those Neanderthalic, faux-merican EuropaCorp action movies, like "The Transporter" or "From Paris With Love" ­­— except fate fumbled, and the film ended up as a coasting-on-star-power Hollywood programmer directed by The Expendables 3’s Patrick Hughes. Read full review
50
The Film StageDan MeccaAug 16, 2017
The tone is playful, to be sure, but it’s hard to see past the collateral damage. Blame it on the times. Make no mistake, all of this could be forgiven if The Hitman’s Bodyguard had enough laughs. It does not. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorAug 17, 2017
This is Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote territory. How are we to reconcile such images with righteous vengeance wreaked on a genocidal war criminal? Not even a busload of popes could make moral sense of this one. Read full review
40
The GuardianMike McCahillAug 24, 2017
For an action-comedy, its timing is lousy. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeAug 10, 2017
Hitman's Bodyguard offers more than enough shoot-'em-up to keep multiplex auds munching their popcorn, but sharper talents behind the camera might have made it considerably more enjoyable. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. ScottAug 16, 2017
It occupies its genre niche — the exuberantly violent Euro-action movie-star paycheck action comedy — without excessive cynicism or annoying pretension. Read full review
58
The PlaylistWill AshtonAug 17, 2017
It’s not an easy movie to love and it’s not an easy movie to hate either. It’s annoyingly, persistently just okay. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenAug 17, 2017
Reynolds is playing what amounts to the straight man to Jackson’s bad boy, and the back-and-forth between the two, with his character stewing and steaming in exasperation at the killer’s taunts, gives The Hitman’s Bodyguard its special fizz. Read full review
20
The TelegraphRobbie CollinAug 24, 2017
The Hitman’s Bodyguard simply doesn’t put in the effort, with the result that almost every aspect of the film proves wildly irritating, from its central odd couple to the dubious green-screen work that regularly has them pulling nonchalant faces in front of exploding buildings. Read full review
55
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeAug 10, 2017
The cast seems game, and perhaps they realize it’s on them to elevate the material, so the scenes between Reynolds and Jackson have some genuine snap to them, even though the dialogue and characterization are barely memorable. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonAnna SmithAug 16, 2017
The Hitman’s Bodyguard is not exactly killing it, but coasts on the charisma of its central stars. Read full review
40
Total FilmNeil SmithAug 15, 2017
Two characters, who you won’t like, insulting each other for two hours. Give it a miss and rewatch Midnight Run instead. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittAug 17, 2017
The combination of the two showcases fun chemistry and antics, although surrounded by a formulaic narrative that action junkies have all seen before. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeAug 10, 2017
A delightfully ridiculous screwball action comedy. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlAug 15, 2017
It’s exactly the movie it promises to be, but more so. It’s wilder, more hilarious, more giddily irresponsible — it’s the hard R action comedy that kids sneaking into it might imagine it’s going to be, minus Seventies- and Eighties-style nudity. Read full review
40
VoxAlissa WilkinsonAug 31, 2017
The Hitman’s Bodyguard is strangely soulless, particularly for a movie that wants to be about murder, morality, and revenge. Those elements are there only to serve up the appearance of a smart film, when The Hitman’s Bodyguard would have been better served by sticking to pure action and stupid humor. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 17, 2017
The Hitman’s Bodyguard would have been much funnier because, on paper, Tom O’Connor’s script was probably a scream. What adds to the unevenness of the whole affair is a propensity for extreme violence that just seems incompatible with what is ostensibly a comedy. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 17, 2017
Despite all the mayhem, The Hitman’s Bodyguard is a surprisingly bland dish. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoAug 17, 2017
As the word “m#th&rf$ck*r” loses meaning, you can’t help but appreciate a wholly predictable – yet unapologetically confident – action goof that’s far funnier than it should be. Read full review
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