'Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday (2022)' is a bit like 'The Protector / Warrior King (2005)' in that it's simultaneously excellent (the action) and terrible (almost everything else), except this Scott Adkins' kick-'em-up doesn't quite hit the same range of quality (the action is really good, but not 'best of all time?' good; the rest is pretty bad, but not 'have they ever made a movie before?' bad) and is therefore a much more middle-of-the-road experience overall. It starts in media res with our leading man battling a killer clown who's trying to smash him to pieces with a giant sledgehammer, before the action freezes and we're hit with a classic 'how did I get here?' rewind that parks the life-and-death clowning around for about forty minutes while the piece sets up the meat-and-potatoes of its plot. Following the events of the first film (which I haven't seen), the flick sees its star spending his exile in Malta and getting unreasonably pissed off that he can't buy Malteasers anywhere on the island. Unable to resist doing what he's good at, he starts taking on assassination contracts that require him to make his targets' deaths look like outlandish accidents. Helping him with this is an old chum from London who looks and acts far too innocent to be in his line of work, as well as a feisty fighter whose only job is to fistfight our hero to keep him on his toes and help him blow off steam after each hit. The first half plays out as this sort of lighthearted comedy with occasional bursts of energetically executed action. It's goofy and amateurish and actually sort of endearing in its own way, but it's undeniably not very good. It does establish the oddball tone that's so key in the picture's overall success, however limited it may be. The piece clearly knows exactly what it is and that's a large part of why it works relatively well, as you know it doesn't have any pretensions and understands that its core audience isn't really here for anything other than the fisticuffs (and a bit of occasional, somewhat satirical silliness). Eventually, someone from our protagonist's past (portrayed by an underused yet genuinely good Ray Stevenson) throws a spanner in the works and gets him involved with some very dangerous people. Our hero is forced to protect a whiny man-child from a bevy of colourful and deadly assassins, and its in this propulsive second half where the feature really takes off. Essentially, the back half of the film is comprised of five fight scenes (two of which occur at the same time and are thus intercut), with a new assassin rocking up - complete with freeze-frame introduction and outlandish gimmick - so that Adkins can beat them up before moving onto his next foe. These sequences are fast, frenetic and generally fantastic (the aforementioned killer clown fight is, I think, the highlight). Some of the action is also surprisingly brutal, especially given the generally bouncy tone. The focus is typically on hyper-choreographed violence-as-dance, though, so the feature is always far more fun than it is grisly. It's really enjoyable when it's doing what it does best, throwing all caution to the wind as it delivers the goods in terms of stylistic action. Perhaps the frequent digital zooms distract a little from the actual on-set choreography, but the overall aesthetic is pleasing enough because it doesn't obfuscate anything and favours steady long takes over edited-to-oblivion shaky cam. Ultimately, this is one of those movies that isn't good, per se, but is entertaining. In some ways, I suppose that means it is good, doesn't it? Despite its obvious flaws, it's quite a lot of fun when at its best and inoffensively naff when at its worst. Depending on what you're after, it might just be exactly what you need. Then again, there are films that do both better action and better everything else, so make of that what you will.
