The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard ends on a surprisingly heartwarming note with the expected dash of comedy. Despite everything they put each other through, the second movie in the franchise ends with Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds), Sonia (Salma Hayek), and Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) becoming a dysfunctional family of sorts. Here's a look at everything that happens in the movie's finale.
Some time has passed between the events of each movie. The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard opens with Michael Bryce in therapy, attempting to cope with the events Darius put him through in the first movie. At the suggestion of his therapist, who is just looking to get rid of him, she suggests a sabbatical in Italy. He happens to choose the same location that Sonia and Darius are having their honeymoon. After the couple becomes wrapped up with evil Greek business mogul Aristotle Papadopoulos (Antonio Banderas), who is a new character in the Hitman's Bodyguard franchise.
Throughout the film, Bryce, Darius, and Sonia all work through issues within themselves and each other. Bryce gets to the bottom of his insecurities and rigid dedication to safety and Darius and Sonia figure out how they can finally have a family. All at the same time, they manage to partner with Interpol in order to stop Papadopoulos from attacking Europe's cybersecurity. As with any good budding franchise, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard leaves the door open for another sequel in the future.
Before the events of The Hitman's Bodyguard, Bryce loses his AAA bodyguard license. As his job was his pride and joy, this devastated Michael. Getting reinstated has been Bryce's motivation for the entirety of the franchise so far. The stakes are raised for this in the second movie. His all-star bodyguard father uses his influence with the deciding committee to blackmail Bryce. At the end of the movie, Hayek's Sonia also tricks Bryce into thinking she pulled strings to get him reinstated. But when all is said and done, Bryce still doesn't get reinstated.
As long as the Hitman's Bodyguard franchise continues, Bryce can never get his license back for one simple reason. Director Patrick Hughes told CinemaBlend that he realized early on that the key to his franchise is the suffering of Michael Bryce. He says if Bryce isn't suffering that the franchise is over. In the context of this story, not having his AAA status is the highest form of suffering for Bryce. That means that, no matter how close he gets, Bryce can never get his license back. That would ease his suffering, which would end The Hitman's Bodyguard's less-than-well-received series.
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard heavily focuses on the idea of family — Sonia and Darius talk about having a child, and the movie digs into Bryce's family life. Early in the movie, Bryce constantly mentions how he cannot go to Tuscany when he's in Italy. The film eventually reveals why — his dad lives there. The audience is thrown for a loop when it's revealed that Michael Bryce, Sr. is actually a surprise Morgan Freeman cameo. This is initially played for laughs. Darius is shocked by the fact that Bryce never reveals his father is a Black man. Eventually, Bryce shares that he is his stepfather. The movie also reveals that his stepfather fuels a lot of Bryce's insecurities, and Freeman's cameo is played very well indeed.
Throughout both movies, Bryce is obsessed with safety and being perfect with his job. The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard reveals that through two moments. A flashback shows that Bryce lost his mother when he was a teenager. Bryce usually acted as an unofficial bodyguard for his mother when he was younger. But when he stepped away from her for a brief moment, a freak accident took her life. That, coupled with the fact that Bryce's stepfather was a legendary bodyguard, led to Bryce becoming obsessed with perfection. Moments in this reveal can get slightly melodramatic, such as Bryce's mom dying due to a carnival accident. But they give necessary color to Bryce's character, which will be beneficial in continuing the franchise. As Bryce is able to identify these issues within himself in The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, the character sees massive growth throughout the film.
In The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, Sonia and Darius express their hope to have a child. Darius eventually reveals to Sonia that he cannot have kids, due to a gunshot wound from a job. So, they decide to adopt. Sonia comes to the conclusion that Bryce is like a son to her and Darius. In the film's final scene, she hands Bryce a form and tells him he can get reinstated as a bodyguard — all he has to do is sign. But once he does, she emotionally reveals that it was actually an adoption form. At the end of The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, Bryce is legally Sonia and Darius' son. It's an outlandish way of showing how Bryce's relationship with the Kincaids has grown over two movies. When Bryce and Darius came face-to-face in the first movie, they wanted to kill each other. By the end of The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, they consider each other to be close friends. Should the series continue with The Hitman's Bodyguard 3, this theme will hold over and show how this unorthodox family gets itself out of dangerous hijinx.
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard easily keeps the door open for a sequel, as it has shown new ways to prolong Bryce's suffering. For one, he did not get any closer to getting reinstated as a AAA bodyguard. Bryce will likely continue to try and fail to get reinstated for as long as the movie series continues. Getting adopted by the Kincaids also adds a layer of suffering to Bryce's story as well. While he has grown to love Sonia and Darius over the course of the two movies, it's still a slightly antagonistic, love-hate relationship. A third movie would inevitably explore their relationship as a legal family. These two points can easily provide enough story for a sequel to The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard. It all depends on how much the audience and director Patrick Hughes want to keep watching Michael Bryce suffer.
https://ift.tt/3dIneaz
July 04, 2021 at 12:45AM
