The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)

The Hitman's Bodyguard is a 2017 American action comedy film directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Tom O'Connor, whose script was on the 2011 Black List survey. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman and Salma Hayek, and follows a bodyguard named Michael Bryce who is hired to protect a popular hitman named Darius Kincaid who has to testify at the International Criminal Court.

The Hitman's Bodyguard was released in the United States on August 18, 2017, and grossed $176 million worldwide. The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising Reynolds and Jackson's chemistry but criticizing the clichéd plot and execution.^[5] A sequel is in development.

Private UK-based bodyguard Michael Bryce is hired to protect Takashi Kurosawa, a Japanese arms dealer. All apparently goes well, until Kurosawa is shot in the head through an airplane window. Two years later, Bryce, fallen into disgrace, ekes out a living protecting drug-addicted corporate executives in London. Meanwhile, Vladislav Dukhovich, the ruthless and bloodthirsty dictator of Belarus is put on trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. The prosecution is unable to make headway against him, as they are unable to substantiate their allegations with physical evidence and Dukhovich assassinates any witnesses who could do so. The prosecution's last hope is notorious incarcerated hitman Darius Kincaid, who agrees to testify against Dukhovich in exchange for releasing his wife Sonia from prison.

Interpol Assistant Director Jean Foucher assigns Amelia Roussel, an inexperienced agent and Bryce's ex-girlfriend, to lead the transportation of Kincaid. A squad of Interpol agents composed of French GIPN and British AFOs from the National Crime Agency begin to escort Kincaid from Manchester to The Hague. However, the convoy is ambushed in Coventry and everyone except Kincaid and Roussel are killed. The two retreat to a safehouse. They realise someone in Interpol must have betrayed them and they need someone from outside they can trust, so Roussel contacts Bryce. Bryce is reluctant to help, as he believes that Roussel was responsible for the death of Kurosawa two years previously, but ultimately agrees to aid them in exchange for the restoration of his reputation. After a brief showdown with Kincaid which reveals that Bryce had multiple conflicts with him in the past, Roussel returns to Interpol to update them on the situation, while Bryce and Kincaid escape an attack by Dukhovich's men.

Foucher approaches Dukhovich, revealing himself to be the traitor, and demands his payment for selling out Kincaid; Dukhovich stabs him in the hand and informs him he will only be paid when Kincaid is dead. Dukhovich's men track Kincaid's location through his cellphone and ambush him and Bryce. While they are able to fight them off, their vehicle is destroyed. The two hitchhike to a ferry terminal and take a ferry to Amsterdam, where Sonia is being held.

As they arrive in Amsterdam, Kincaid escapes from Bryce to send flowers to Sonia, and Bryce tracks him down and kills several more hitmen. Kincaid reveals that he killed Kurosawa two years ago, having been at the airport only by chance after another job. Enraged at the revelation that he has spent two years blaming Roussel for "betraying" him when in reality the client's death was a sheer fluke, Bryce punches Kincaid and then abandons him.

As Bryce bemoans his failures, a group of hitmen attacks Kincaid. Bryce changes his mind and helps Kincaid escape, but is captured. Dukhovich's men torture him in an attempt to find Kincaid, who tracks Bryce down and rescues him. After settling their differences, the two battle their way to The Hague, arriving just in time for Kincaid to testify. He testifies that Dukhovich tried to hire Kincaid to assassinate a political rival, but in the process Kincaid witnessed the execution of a village, uploading photos of the massacre to a secret FTP site that he provides the court with access to.

Dukhovich resorts to his backup plan; to bomb the court, allowing him to steal a gun and attempt to kill Kincaid. Bryce jumps in the way of the bullet and tells Kincaid to stop Dukhovich from escaping. Roussel notices Foucher acting suspiciously during the attack, and deduces he was the traitor. She subdues him with Bryce's aid. Kincaid pursues Dukhovich to the roof of the building, where he attempts to escape by helicopter. Kincaid destroys the helicopter and kicks Dukhovich off the roof to his death. In the aftermath, Bryce is recovered and has rekindled his relationship with Roussel and Sonia is released. Kincaid is rearrested for his previous crimes, but breaks out of HMP Belmarsh several months later so he and Sonia can celebrate their anniversary in the bar in Honduras where they first met. The movie ends with them dancing and then kissing in the midst of all the fighting and chaos taking place at the bar.