Lionsgate recently held advanced screenings for the "The Hitman's Bodyguard" but the which action comedy film wasn't received too favorably.
The movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson has a rating of 40 percent on RottenTomatoes, which is a site that aggregates review scores from various entertainment outlets.
Peter Travers from RollingStone wrote, "Reynolds and Jackson make this summer lunacy go down easy with their banter and bullet-dodging skills. They're the only reason that 'The Hitman's Bodyguard doesn't sink into the generic quicksand from whence it came."
In the story, Michael Bryce, played by Reynolds, is the world's top protection agent. He is assigned to protect the world's most notorious hitman, Darius Kincaid, portrayed by Jackson.
They don't get along from the start because the two have been at opposite ends for years. When they get paired and are forced to work together, comedy and action ensue as the unlikely duo is worlds apart when it comes to their personalities.
They encounter car chases, boat mishaps and a murderous European dictator played by Gary Oldman. Salma Hayek who plays Kincaid's notorious wife Sonia joins in on the action.
Movie enthusiasts, however, pointed out the thin plot that rehashes the usual action-comedy tropes.
Nell Minow of Movie Mom expressed, "They quip, shoot and punch their merry way through a buddy-cop action comedy so generic it may have been created by algorithm."
The movie banks on tested box-office formulas that make the plot predictable.
TheWrap's Alonso Duralde reasoned, "If you have ever seen a movie produced between 1983 and 1991, you know exactly what happens."
Most critics agree that Reynolds and Jackson's performances are noteworthy but the movie still suffers from the same generic plot and predictable outcome.
"The Hitman's Bodyguard" opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, Aug. 18.
