Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

 Year of Release: 2021

Director:  Patrick Hughes

Screenplay:  Tom O'Connor, Brandon Murphy, Philip Murphy

Starring:  Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas, Frank Grillo, Morgan Freeman, Richard E. Grant

Running Time:  100 minutes

Genre:  Action, comedy

Former bodyguard Michael Bryce (Reynolds), whose license has been suspended, takes a sabbatical on advice of his therapist.  However, his rest is soon ruined when he is contacted by Sonia Kincaid (Hayek), the wife of hitman Darius Kincaid (Jackson).  The three soon find themselves caught up in a plot to destroy the power grid and infrastructure of the whole of Europe.

I have not seen The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017), so I can't say how good a sequel this is.  It is basically a blend of James Bond-style spy thriller, action and comedy and it really doesn't always hold together.  It's often funny, and the three leads have real chemistry together, and are all talented comedy performers, but there really is nothing novel or original here.  Despite not being a long film, it still feels stretched, jokes are repeated, and the frequent action setpieces, while well-staged, were old hat back in the 1980s.  There is also a problem with tone, where it does touch on the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Greece, and the very real problems going on there, but it doesn't fit with the goofy tone of the rest of there film.  Also the frequent violence is surprisingly sadistic.  Given the comedic nature of the film it is really quite graphic.  Antonio Banderas has some good moments as the villain of the piece, despite a ridiculous hairpiece, Frank Grillo plays an obnoxious American Interpol agent who really doesn't do much except yell at people and insult his Scottish translator (Alice McMillan), but Morgan Freeman is very funny, and there are appearances from British TV comedy star Rebecca Front as Bryce's therapist, and Richard E. Grant and Gary Oldman appear in small roles.  If you are a fan, or really seen any of this type of film, then you will have seen this all before, but is is enjoyable enough, and there are some laughs to be had.  It will find it's rightful place in a few months time on late night TV.

Ryan Reynolds, Salma Hayek and Samuel L. Jackson in Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

Desperado

Year of Release:  1995
Director:  Robert Rodriguez
Screenplay:  Robert Rodriguez
Starring:  Antonio Banderas, Joaquim de Almeida, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, Quentin Tarantino
Running Time:  105 minutes
Genre:  Action

This film is a sequel to Robert Rodriguez ultra-low-budget debut El Mariachi (1992), but is also kind of a remake with a much bigger budget, because, although it follows directly on from El Mariachi, and events from that film are referenced, it follows the plot of the first very closely, and several set-pieces form the original are recreated on a much grander scale.  The unnamed Mariachi (Bandreas, replacing Carlos Gallardo from the first film) is seeking revenge on crime boss, Bucho (de Almeida), for the death of his one true love.  With the help of his American pal (Buscemi), the Mariachi wanders from town to town with a guitar case full of guns pursuing Bucho.

Full of stylish action and violence, which is graphic enough to be appealing to action fans, but not too graphic to be too disturbing.  Antonio Banderas makes for a great action hero, and Salma Hayek, who made her breakthrough performance with this film, is good as the bookstore owner who helps the Mariachi.  There is also a fun cameo from Quentin Tarantino.  This is the kind of movie that is just a fun action packed romp.        

Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas in Desperado

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

Year: 1994
Director: Neil Jordan
Screenplay: Anne Rice, based on her novel Interview with the Vampire
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater, Stephen Rea
Running Time: 122 minutes
Genre: Horror, drama, epic, supernatural

Summary: San Francisco, present day: Malloy (Slater) conducts an interview with Louis (Pitt), who claims to be a vampire. Louis narrates the story of his existence as one of the Undead, beginning in Louisiana, 1791, when, suicidal after the death of his wife in childbirth, Louis is attacked by a powerful vampire, Lestat (Cruise). Lestat teaches Louis how to survive and hunt for blood, while the conscience-stricken Louis turns to feeding on animals in order prevent having to take human life. Fearing that Louis will leave him, Lestat turns a young orphaned girl, Claudia (Dunst), into a vampire, believing that their new "daughter" will encourage him to stay. However, as time passes, resentments between the three grow stronger, with Claudia in particular growing to hate Lestat for trapping her eternally in the body of a child, while Louis becomes pre-occupied by the search for other vampires that might explain their condition.

Opinions: This film is one of the most visually lavish horror films ever made. A full-blown gothic film it revels in the sumptiousness and decay of 18th and 19th Century New Orleans and Paris. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series of books, which currently totals ten novels in the main sequence and two in the linked but sepearate New Tales of the Vampires series, have been bestsellers worldwide, and the novel Interview With the Vampire, first published in 1976, was the first in the series. The film mostly follows the book very closely, and manages to eep the novel's strong homoerotic undertones largely intact.
Initially Anne Rice was very vocal in her objection to Tom Cruise playing Lestat (claiming that he was "no more my vampire Lestat than Edward G. Robinson is Rhett Butler"). Her choice for the role was Julian Sands, but the studios wanted a bigger star for the role. After seeing the film, however, she was happy with Cruise's performance, and apparently wrote him a letter of apology. The original choice to play the interviewer, whose name is never mentioned on screen but who is referred to in the credits and in the books as Malloy, was River Phoenix who tragically died four weeks before filming began. Christian Slater, who replaced Phoenix, donated his fee for the film to Phoenix's favourite charities, and there is a dedication to Phoenix at the end of the film. Brad Pitt has the lead role of the tortured Louis and although he never manages to convey Louis constant inner torment, he is suitably melancholy throughout (apparently he hated making the film). The big revelation in the film is Kirsten Dunst, who was twelve years old when the film came out, as the vampire child Claudia. She gives a great performance with a difficult role of a character who, while physically a child has the mind and feelings of an adult.
The movie is slickly directed and has enormous style. The thing is that while it is beautiful to look at and has plenty of gory thrills it is rarely particularly scary. it also moves at a fairly sedate pace. However it is powerful and involving enough to keep the interest of viewers, and not just horror fans. It also has a strong seam of welcome humour.
The film, in keeping with the book, depicts the vampires as dangerous but also glamorous and seductive and not necessarily evil. The main conflict in the story is Louis reluctance to feed on and kill humans versus Lestat's whole-hearted embrace of the vampire state. The Vampire Chronicles really popularised the concept of the darkly romantic, ambiguous and tormented vampires which have become so familiar from Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series and Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries (which were the basis for the TV series True Blood).



Kirsten Dunst, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in Interview with the Vampire