Michael (Ryan Reynolds), a down on his luck special protection agent, is called in to help his ex girlfriend Amelia (Elodie Yung) transport a high valued witness named Darius Kincaid (Samuel L Jackson) to court. Kincaid is an infamous hitman whose testimony will take down Vladsislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman), a brutal dictator accused of committing multiple war crimes.

With Interpol compromised, Michael and Kincaid – two highly trained killers- are forced to work together as they make their way from the U.K to The Hague, Netherlands while facing an ongoing blitz of Dukhovich’s goons.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is a conventional “buddy cop” comedy. It has the whole recipe – hated rivals are forced to work together, sharing of personal information in a short time frame, contrasting personalities, and the duo faces a group of villains who went to the Stormtrooper’s School for Bad Shooting. Surprisingly, it’s a conventional story in the best way possible and never tries to do anything outside of the genre.

With a story that’s been made in 1,000 different ways, the engine that keeps the film moving is Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson. The two stars have great chemistry together. Reynolds plays the stick-to-the-rules guy who has everything planned out. Meanwhile, Jackson is having all the fun as the wild card of the duo. He does whatever, whenever and doesn’t care if he has a plan or not.

I’m sure Tom O’Connor wrote a fun screenplay packed with quick quips and hilarious banters. It’s hard to imagine Reynolds and Jackson didn’t ad-lib or improvise a lot of their back-and-forth dialogue. There’s a lot of quick witted humor that makes both actors a joy to watch on screen. Reynolds delivers his best snarky rebuttals, while Jackson drops some of the finest m-f bombs in years. It’s exactly what you’d expect from two foul-mouthed funnymen in an R-rated action comedy.

Thankfully it isn’t just f-bombs and dick jokes. The action is pretty entertaining. It’s above average for the most part with a few solid action sequences. The best is a getaway scene in Prague with multiple vehicles and a shootout that sweeps through the cities breathtaking landscape.

Silly fun is the best way to describe this movie and it’s on full display during the flashbacks Michael and Kincaid give retelling how they met the love of their life. Kincaid’s story involves Sonia (Selma Hayek) going John Wick on some guys at a bar.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is a silly action comedy that knows exactly what it is and rides Reynolds and Jackson to the finish line. It’s the perfect movie to end the summer. It’s not a blockbuster, yet it has the perfect mix of star power and entertainment to fit into the summer movie season on a high note.

Grade: B