YMMV / The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

• Alternative Character Interpretation: When it comes to Michael Sr. and just how villainous he is:
  • While he comes off as a Smug Snake for the way he puts down Michael after The Reveal and basically declaring I Have No Son! to him, before that, he's a loving father still managing to show a little genuine affection despite his betrayal—which would indeed speak to the mention of the "Gelato Incident" being a pure and simple accident after all and not a Kick the Dog. It could all be viewed as either Senior wishing to disown and discredit him for being a disappointment as a son or if it's a way of pushing him to become better. It's not hard to see the latter given Senior later offers Michael back his license in exchange for not being involved anyway, compliments Michael on getting him with the penknife and then directs him to blowing the ship as the only way to stop the attack against Europe. There's also the matter of whether or not he actually has genuine loyalty toward Aristotle or if Michael Sr.'s simply just a Punch-Clock Villain and Knight Templar wanting to do his job as a bodyguard professionally, even if it means taking a bullet while wearing a vest. There's also the angle at the very end of the film that Senior's not Evil Gloating when telling Michael he has to die to blow the boat, but as an Evil Mentor, testing him once again and his smile is not smug satisfaction, but actually being proud of his son.
  • Was Senior genuine that he and Aristotle would spare Michael and grant him his licence back if he gave up Darius? Or was it ploy to make him let his guard down so Senior would kill him?
  • Was Senior telling Michael of the bomb a Villain's Dying Grace, or was he attempting to convince him not to pull it to save himself? He doesn't tell him that there would be a few seconds grace before it explodes.
• Awesome Music:
  • The film sees the return of "Hello" by Lionel Richie when Darius and Sonia are initially reunited near the beginning of the movie.
  • "The Sign" by Ace of Base—after only being sung by Michael in the first movie—pops in in the scene at the end of the movie when Michael fights and kills Magnusson.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: To nobody’s surprise, Morgan Freeman’s character is not only Bryce’s stepfather, he’s also one of the main villains.
• Catharsis Factor: While it doesn't have the crowd-pleasing factor the same way Dukhovich's demise did, seeing Darius and Sonia finish Aristotle off together still qualifies though.
• Complete Monster: Aristotle Papadopoulos is a ruthless Greek nationalist and terrorist outraged by sanctions on Greece. Murdering an EU diplomat by suffocating him, Aristotle intends to drive into the EU's power grid and shut it down, killing millions with the loss of life support and power. Upon capturing Bryce and Darius Kincaid, Aristotle intends to have them tortured to death, attempting to rekindle his old romance with Sonia Kincaid. Upon learning she was deceiving him, he intends to sink her in the ocean to kill her along with EU, with nary a glimmer of remorse.
• Critic-Proof: Despite clearly getting an even more negative response from critics and not performing impressively at the box office—this is likely attributed to the pandemic's overall box office effect in general though—the movie received new life on steaming and killed it in the number one spot on iTunes. This could also be attributed though to Free Guy—also starring Ryan Reynolds—having also been in theaters at the time, too.
• Critical Dissonance: As was the case with the first film, critics were mostly negative while audiences were more forgiving.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Bryce and Kincaid remorselessly set up two innocent Interpol agents to be killed to serve as decoys for them.
• Magnificent Bitch: Sonia Kincaid, wife of Darius and a former conwoman, proves herself to be completely on par with her husband's expertise and efficiency. At first being locked up in the first movie to leverage Darius against Dukhovich, Sonia is shown in flashback to have taken out numerous men in a bar by herself the night she and Darius met and he instantly fell for her and handles herself very well against government agents questioning her while also easily intimidating her much bigger cellmate too. By the time the second movie comes around, she forces Michael back into the game to help her rescue Darius while single-handedly taking out numerous armed gunman all on her own and taking out more when actually saving Darius too. Deceiving a mark for the sale of a dangerous explosive device, Sonia also successfully fights off a henchwoman while making sure the device doesn't go off in the process either. While pretending that Aristotle Papadopoulos is playing her against Darius, Sonia counteracts Aristotle's attempt to play and murder her too while taking out another henchwoman who's more of a challenge this time, helping stop Aristotle's plot against Europe and helping Darius take Aristotle out too.
• Memetic Mutation: Bryce wooing while he receives his AAA Award.
• Moral Event Horizon: Aristotle crosses it by shutting down an entire city to demonstrate the weapon and causing numerous deaths in the process before having his henchmen kill the dealers and take it for himself.
• Nightmare Fuel: Aristotle shutting down an entire city and seeing the amount of destruction it causes in the process; trains and cars crashing and explosions.