Movie reviews

THE HITMAN'S WIFE'S BODYGUARD 

Watchable. Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson and Salma Hayek reprise their roles in the sequel of "The Htman's Bodyguard". The movie was shot in the UK, Bulgaria, Croatia and Italy, as if the action itself wasn't dynamic enough. Having lost his licence, former triple A rated bodyguard Michael Bryce, undergoes a therapy and to try to recover he heads to a holiday spot only to discover that Darius Kincaid needs him again. Just like in the first part, the plot is far-fetched but the actioner's fully enjoyable due to music, twists of action and the protagonists' banter - poorly translated into Polish, some jokes went missing in the subtitles. A funny point in the plot is that a virus spreads from Italy to the rest of Europe, just like it happened during the Covid-19 pandemic over a year ago, though the filming started in 2019 so that's most likely just a coincidence. And in the movie, Italy hosts computer servers instead of harbouring a disease. There's an early mid-credit and a post-credit shot which ends this comedy.

MIDSOMMAR DIRECTOR'S CUT

Watchable. The director has put the main focus on Dani. This version is steeped in psychology - everyone's, especially Dani and Christian's, motives are complex and the villagers are more conniving than in the standard version. I didn't quite get in the mood but that let me analyze ominous signs better: when the plane is touching the ground on landing, it's like an earthquake, next the road is shown upside down and in the village, some buildings have roofs sloping in one direction - the protagonists' world is about to be first shaken, then turned upside down, both because of the villagers' twisted minds. An offering hole in the ground at first seems to be a fresh grave. Seen for the second time though, it's not horrifying and the corpses look fake. There's also less ambiguity in Ari Aster's version through going so deep into the characters so there's less to fear, the film's even touching at times.