A top notch private bodyguard Michael Bryce (played by Ryan Reynolds) is famous in the industry until his client Takashi Kurosawa got killed while being escorted. He lost his triple A rated company and still manages to survive by taking weird individuals as clients.
During this time, a ruthless dictator, Valdislav Dukhovich (played by Gary Oldman) is being tried for crimes against humanity. A number of witnesses already have testified against him but the court needs a more solid evidence to prosecute him. The prosecution's last important witness will be the well known hitman Darius Kincaid (played by Samuel L Jackson). He agreed to testify against Dukhovich in exchange for the release of his wife Sonia (played by Salma Hayek) from her prison in the Netherlands.
After signing the needed forms, Kincaid must be escorted to the Hague for the trials. Tasked to lead the transfer is Agent Roussel of Interpol. She then lead an armed escort to bring Kincaid from London to the Hauge when Dukhovich's men ambushed them. All of the escorts got killed except for Agent Roussel and Kincaid who managed to escape and reach a safehouse.
Quick thinking on the part of Agent Roussel made her realize that there's a mole at the Interpol so he calls in her ex-boyfriend Bryce. She then asks him to bring Kincaid to the Hague. It seemed that the two had some nasty run-ins prior to this meeting so a violent confrontation was inevitable. Somehow they managed to agree on a truce and went on their way to The Hague.
It seemed that Dukhovich's men are very good in tracking Kincaid and the two had to ditch their transport everytime. In their last confrontation, Bryce learned that Kincaid was carrying one of Dukhovich henchman's (whom he killed during the London ambush) phone. This was the reason why they were easily tracked. With the phone destroyed, they were able to hitch hike their way to a ferry that will take them to Amsterdam. While there, Kincaid slipped away from Bryce to put a flower on a window sill that can be seen from Sonia's prison window.
This irked Bryce and while he tried to retrieve Kincaid, he learned that the latter killed Kurosawa that angered him more. Bryce then leaves Kincaid on his own since the latter doesn't listen to him on matters of his safety. While he leaves him on his own, Dukhovich's men (who were waiting for him at Sonia's prison) spotted Kincaid and a chase ensued. All these were happening behind Bryce's back, literally behind his back. He can hear the screams and the commotion behind him yet he refrains from helping and rescuing Kincaid.
After a few instances more, Bryce decides to help and joins in the car chase for Kincaid. He follows Dukhovich's men and eliminates them one by one until he was captured. Before Byrce could have been tortured, he was rescued by Kincaid and they are on their way to The Hague again. Along the highway, they were again spotted and a car chase again ensues. Bad guys were no match against the two and barely managed to reach the international court by mere seconds.
Kincaid then proceeds to testify to the court his dealings with the dictator. His testimony includes how we was invited to Dukhovich's office to assign him to assassinate one of the dictator's political rival. While still thinking whether to accept the job or not, he was a witness to a massacre lead by the dictator. Kincaid was able to take some pictures and later he showed them to the court.
Seeing that the odds are against him, Dukhovich then instructs a henchman to initiate a rescue plan. A truck laden with explosives were to sent to the court house to serve as distraction. While the truck was on its way, Dukhovich admits to his crimes and pleads to the court that his actions were justified in running his own country.
During his speech, the truck bomb explodes and created chaos at the court house. Dukhovich was able to overpower his guards and proceeds to escape to the roof where a helicopter was waiting to land. Kincaid followed him to the roof and was able to destroy the helicopter and kicks Dukhovich off the roof to his death.
Kincaid was again brought back to prison but broke out months later to celebrate his wedding anniversary with Sonia. The end or so it seemed.
This movie is action packed in every turn almost like a MIchael Bay movie sans the massive explosions. They have some explosions here, a lot of killed people mostly bad guys and a number of bromance moments between Kincaid and Bryce. The movie had a short character development between them but it was enough to establish bad blood at the beginning. The banter that followed made for an entertaining watch and their differences turned into a beautiful relationship thats akin to being brothers.
They may have lived their lives on the opposite sides of the law but they later found out they had similar ideals. This made them bond and able to thwart all the henchmen that were thrown at them. Both had the ability to survive on their own but it was their combined skills that was truly remarkable. Both gave us a dose of comedy, action and drama needed to keep the movie as entertaining and fun to watch. There maybe a number of cliche's and one liners but it was necessary to achieve their desired effect. Expect a lot of swearing too. It's won't be Samuel Fu%$^^& L Jackson without it. As to Ryan Reynolds, expect some sarcastic jokes thrown while flashing a boyish grin that could swoon over the young movie-going women.
Both are assassins in their own right and truly made a killing at the box office.
