Subtitle The Bodyguard

I cannot say I was really jonesing for a sequel to The Hitman's Bodyguard, the entertaining but totally forgettable 2017 action flick in which Ryan Reynolds plays a bodyguard charged with protecting Samuel L. Jackson's hitman on his journey to testify against a dictator. The two leads return here, as does Salma Hayek, for a violent, profane second chapter that feels like it could have been made a decade ago thanks to some outdated and underwhelming humor. Reynolds and Jackson obviously have success in comedic and action roles, but Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard is the kind of loud, generic action film that is destined for cable TV. Patrick Hughes returns to direct but leaves little impression, and the film's three screenwriters struggle to mix action, drama and comedy into a cohesive whole. Perhaps the most memorable part of the film is Hayek's potty mouth, which is used to one-up Jackson in the F-word department.

subtitle The Bodyguard

On the verge of retirement from the bodyguard life, Michael Bryce (Reynolds) is contacted by Sonia Kincaid (Hayek), who needs his help saving her husband, hitman Darius Kincaid (Jackson), who has been kidnapped by the mob. Michael and Sonia recover Darius, but are then pressured by Interpol agent Bobby O'Neill (Frank Grillo) to help him take down international criminal Aristotle Papadopoulos (Antonio Banderas) in lieu of being turned in for their numerous crimes. After that we get some action, some double crossing and a little bit of Morgan Freeman, who shows up as Michael's old-school bodyguard stepfather. During their initial reconciliation, the film throws in plenty of jokes about Senior and Junior's disparate races; and this type of humor proves to be the lifeblood of this underwhelming action comedy.

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack that I sampled as a 7.1 Dolby TrueHD mix is similarly impressive, and no one will accuse this 4K of not supporting this raucous production with symphonies of sound that blaze through the surrounds and rattle the subwoofer. Dialogue is clear and balanced appropriately with effects and score, and those looking for realistic gunfire, explosions and hand-to-hand combat thunks should enjoy this track. Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks are included, as are English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.

Inger Johanne has to steel herself in order to bear working with Warren. The culture clash between the Swedish police and the FBI is becoming more and more evident as the search for the president leads to a dead bodyguard, Hunter Russell.

Adapted by Emmy award-winning screenwriters Mai Brostrom and Peter Thorsboe, from the book by Anne Holt, Modus follows psychologist and profiler Inger Johanne Vik (Melinda Kinnaman). In Swedish with English subtitles. 041b061a72