Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday is the sequel to 2018’s Accident Man based on a UK comic from the 90s that funny enough, Scott discovered back in the day.

The original film saw Mike Fallon on a revenge mission; trying to find out who killed his ex-girlfriend and why.

Because of that, the first film had to take on a more serious tone overall, and it made sense for him to go into Charles Bronson Death Wish territory.

Of course, it still had it’s comedic moments and although I quite enjoyed the first film, I wasn’t initially onboard with the character.

After offing most of his coworkers in the original film, Mike Fallon had to flee London and booked a flight to Malta.

Speaking of Malta, it’s a great location for the sequel, as it’s so picturesque and shot so well, it goes a long way in helping to add production values and sets the film apart from it’s predecessor; which also helps soften the overall tone; it’s brighter, more colorful and just more visually appealing.

Sequels generally have to be bigger and badder, and Hitman’s Holiday certainly succeeds on that front.

The story is kind of a cross between John Wick 3, The Bodyguard  and Deadpool.

John Wick 3 in the sense that there’s a whole small army of assassins that have to be contended with, The Bodyguard, as far as Scott has to protect a life; in this case a fearsome mafia heiress bosses wannabe pop-star son, who happens to be an complete imbecile and often runs towards danger instead of away from it.

And there are definitely Deadpool vibes here in the sense of crazy dark humor mixed with fun action sequences; in this case, as in the case with most of Scott’s work, martial arts mayhem.

The original was directed by Jesse V Johnson, who often works with Scott. The reason he’s wasn’t on board this one had to do with other projects Jesse was busy working on at the time of this films production. But everything worked out quite well with the Kirby brothers, George and Harry, who have experience in working in the stunt world as well as creating several popular short films.

Scott Adkins met George Kirby while working on Doctor Strange, Kirby having served as Benedict Cumberbatch’s stunt man on the film. Scott having been impressed by a short film directed by the Kirby brothers, led to Scott wanting them aboard Hitman’s Holiday.

Long story short, they did a fantastic Job on their directorial debut for a feature film, and not just with the action, which was a given, based on their background and of course Scotts.

The audience needs more than just great action though, and Accident Man Hitman’s Holiday certainly delivers. We get quite a bit of comedy in this one that’ll have you genuinely laughing. Scott’s sense of comedic timing, delivery and overall natural chemistry between the other characters really allow him to shine outside of the action.

Although being a hitman and loner of sorts, a Bromantic relationship develops between Scott and one of the other hitmen from the first film, Finicky Fred.  This  goes a long way in making the movie more of a human story.

When Fred is taken hostage we’re on board; as who wouldn’t want to save the life of their Bromantic partner. 

Finicky Fred btw is similar to Q from the James Bond films. But Instead of creating gadgets for 007, he and Scott come up with unique ways to kill people and make them look like accidents of course. However, not all of these experiments go as planned. Overall, the scenes in the makeshift workshop are quite comical due to their absurdity, and one pays off in a big way closer to the end of the film when finishing of Poco the Clown.

Speaking of Poco, Beau Fowler gives an incredible performance and I believe his character in this could easily carry an entire movie himself.

Another standout is Siu-Ling and the martial arts infused sadomasochistic relationship she has with Scott. He essentially uses Siu-Lang to help sharpen his skills. As a martial artist, she surpasses his character Mike and he leans on her later in the film as an ally.

The good news is that It feels natural; not forced in order to check the woke box of having a female that kicks more ass than men. So it’s not contrived.

Every fight  in the film is good in different ways.

The fight against Ninja Ouymi, played by Jackie Chan team stunt performer Andy Long is pure Hong Kong action cinema.

The fight against Poco the Clown is comically absurd, hard hitting and pure entertainment; you’ll especially like the way he’s finished off, which is set up prior from an ingenious way Finicky Fred sets a trap.

We see Scott really put on a great display with the bowstaff while squaring off against Yendi, the vampire.

The comedic baffoonery of the kid he’s trying to protect, is interjected well into some of the fights, which helps break them up and allows you to catch your breath. A complaint I often have is that some of the fight scenes in newer films just seem to go on forever without proper pacing. That is certainly not an issue in Hitman’s Holiday.

As far as the comedy goes, it’s dark, yet light hearted if that makes sense.

I mean, look at Dante, the guy Scott’s trying to protect; he ends up looking like Carrie at her high school prom.

That’s quite a memorable scene btw with how that happens. Not to give it away, but there’s quite a bit of gore used in a comedic way.  If you enjoyed the Deadpool movies, you’ll enjoy this.

The film gives us another reminder of how versatile Adkins is as an actor as well. While he might be seen strictly as an action star because of his martial arts past, he also holds exceptional comedic timing.

The comedy in the film is certainly shines with the banter between characters.

Overall, Accident Man Hitman’s Holiday was Scott’s passion project. He wore multiple hats. Outside of starring in it he also acted as producer, came up with the story with longtime friend and collaborator Stu Small, helped out with fight choreography. So he had his hands all over this one, and the effort really paid off.

It’s quite amazing what he and everyone else involved in the project was able to do in a mere 22 days. It’s the only way they could keep the costs down enough to get it made.

I’m really looking forward to part 3, as I think Mike Fallon is the best character he’s played; moreso than Boyka.