We got a chance to see a sneak preview of Lionsgate’s upcoming action/comedy film The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard on Wednesday, at the ShowPlace ICON theater in St. Louis Park. We hadn’t seen the first film, but decided to see the sequel, mostly because we wanted the theater-going experience again, now that theaters are opened and operating again.

Personally speaking, I haven’t been to the movie theaters in well over a year, and was just really happy to be out of the house and attending a public showing of a film.

Of course, a lot of things have changed, post-pandemic. For one thing, to buy movie tickets, at least at the ShowPlace ICON, you had to use a display and follow the instructions. The same for concessions, you’ll have to use a computer screen to order your food and drinks. Once you pay for it, you’re given an order number, which is fulfilled by the staff behind the counter.

While this sounds good, especially if it works smoothly… the reality is that there were too many orders happening at the same time that the staffs could not keep up with the orders. This created a large “wait area”, where customers pooled very closely to each other waiting for their popcorn.

As for assigned seating, again, this is just at our showing (it could be different at other theaters), they were operating at half-capacity. Seats were grouped by two, with one empty seat on each side. I actually really love that empty seat next to me, but I can’t really see this can continue - especially if the theater hope to survive.

I know this is a lot of talk about the theater itself, but I felt it was really important to talk about all the changes as a result of the pandemic. I am hoping it’s just temporary, and am looking forward to a time when you can attend a 100% full theater room without any restrictions.

As for the movie, I thought it was just a silly Summer film. Don’t really think too hard about the logic or the ridiculous plot of The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and you’ll have a good time.

The acting is what you would expect. Ryan Reynolds is doing that Deadpool dumb-thing. Samuel L is doing that foul mouth thing that made him popular… This all-star sequel also adds Salma Hayek, as the foul mouth Hitman’s wife, and Antonio Banderas as the villain.

I’m also not a huge comedy fan, I have a specific taste, and a film like The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard isn’t my cup of tea. It has some moments, but most of the film’s humor wasn’t for me. I was somewhat surprised at how violent the film was (especially for a comedy), so I felt this film really is mean for the adults - not meant for children… and it’s reflected in the films rating of R (for Restrictive).

I think if you enjoyed the first film, this is more or less the same film… only they advertised as “bigger, harder, less protection”, indicating that it’s everything you love in the original, only more of it.

If there is one positive I can say about the movie, I laughed so hard when they introduced the Bodyguard’s father.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard will be out in theaters on June 16, 2021.