"Deadpool 3" anyone? That's what it felt like with only the super-hero costume missing on Ryan Reynolds, what with a more than liberal sprinkling of the 'F' word and Samuel L. Jackson lending his talents as an assassin with intriguing views on life and it's limitations. It almost qualifies as a buddy movie too, except that executive protection consultant Michael Bryce (Reynolds) and hit-man Darius Kincaid (Jackson) don't team up as much as they try to evade a squad of killers dispatched by former Belarus President Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman), standing trial for raping and pillaging his homeland. Both are given clever quips and one-liners to play off each other as wise-cracking antagonists, and as Kincaid expertly summarizes near the end of the story - "You know, when life gives you s__t, you make Kool-Aid". A noteworthy observation, which Bryce by his very fastidious and exacting nature, attempts to rearticulate using the lemons/lemonade example.
If you know these players and have seen them in action before, you pretty much know what to expect. There's plenty of shoot 'em ups and highly imaginative chase scenes for the adrenaline crowd, and unlikely forays into dimensions of romance with Kincaid supplying the interpretations. Selma Hayek and Elodie Yung provide the necessary eye candy as the love interests of Jackson and Reynolds respectively, as the picture races to a countdown challenge that bad guy Dukhovich is determined to take advantage of. It's all played extremely over the top with a lot of collateral damage, but that's what you sign up for with a picture like this. The only question that isn't answered by the time it's over - what's with the fat lady in Sonia Kincaid's prison cell?
If you know these players and have seen them in action before, you pretty much know what to expect. There's plenty of shoot 'em ups and highly imaginative chase scenes for the adrenaline crowd, and unlikely forays into dimensions of romance with Kincaid supplying the interpretations. Selma Hayek and Elodie Yung provide the necessary eye candy as the love interests of Jackson and Reynolds respectively, as the picture races to a countdown challenge that bad guy Dukhovich is determined to take advantage of. It's all played extremely over the top with a lot of collateral damage, but that's what you sign up for with a picture like this. The only question that isn't answered by the time it's over - what's with the fat lady in Sonia Kincaid's prison cell?