Cert 15 118mins Stars 4

This buddy action comedy is loud, fast, funny and the whole nine yards of knockout fun.

Ryan Reynolds is an executive bodyguard strong armed to protect Samuel L. Jackson’s hitman.

Pursued by an army of heavily armed gunmen, the smooth triple A rated protection agent has only 27 hours to transport the killer from Manchester to The Hague to give evidence in a trial.

The film trades heavily on the combustible competitive charisma of a formidable foursome of stars.

Elodie Yung and Salma Hayek play the men’s significant others, with the latter magnificent in her fiery foul mouthed fury.

There’s a vague 1970s vibe and the inclusion of Belarusian war crimes and terrorist strikes give real world weight to the James Bond inspired action.

This includes a shoot out in Coventry – which is not something you see everyday in a Hollywood movie – plus there’s a ferocious motorbike and speedboat chase in Amsterdam. Van der Valk was never this much of a blast.