When your doctor tells you to take it easy, it’s a good time for a vacation. That’s the sort of situation Ryan Reynolds’ protagonist finds himself in at the beginning of The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, but it doesn’t last for long. With Salma Hayek trying to rescue a captive Samuel L. Jackson, and a lot of invested parties trying to stop her, both blockbuster actors are going to go on the run from some very bad men. And as you see in the trailer above, it’s all to the tune of Britney Spears’ “Baby… One More Time.”
In The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, we see Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) still traumatized by the experiences of the previous film, The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It’s so bad, his psychiatrist tells him to take time to himself, kick back on a beach, and read The Secret. He consciously chose those last two bits, as well as the prime ‘90s tune-age to setting himself up for relaxing success. Which is exactly when Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek) wife to the kidnapped Darius (Samuel L. Jackson) springs into action and yanks Michael out of relaxation and into the fight.
If the non-stop action of The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard wasn’t enough to lure in audiences who made The Hitman’s Bodyguard a surprise hit at the box office, then the jokes are certainly the cherry on top. Not to mention, new baddie Antonio Banderas is going to make matters all the better, as action/comedy is a wheelhouse he’s played towards many times before. But damn if that Britney Spears needle drop isn’t the bow that ties the whole package together.
Originally set to debut in 2020, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard was pushed into 2021 just as it was about to rev up the engines and go into promotion mode. Thankfully, that wait has given the folks at Lionsgate enough time to position this sequel to debut with its best foot forward. Which, apparently, meant that it was time to break out a chart topping hit from 1998, and to give it an action charged makeover. Honestly, we wouldn’t be surprised if Ryan Reynolds stumped for that decision, as he knows a thing or two about pop music marketing.
Maybe, some day, Ryan Reynolds will get to kick back and have his “me time.” Though with movies like The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and Free Guy dropping all over the 2021 release calendar, it doesn’t seem likely in the near future. Could we be seeing the summer of Ryan Reynolds taking shape? Well, that depends on if July manages to land one of his movies, and if The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard co-star Morgan Freeman doesn’t sneak in some movies at the last minute. Mr. Freeman’s sneaky like that.
Action fans and pop music lovers, rejoice! Your two worlds have crossed over in the trailer for The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, and it’s an absolutely beautiful day. Which means another, greater wave of beauty could hit us, baby, one more time, when the film opens in theaters on June 16th.
