Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday (2022) Review

“Accident Man 2: Hitman’s Holiday” Theatrical Poster

Director: George Kirby
Co-director: Harry Kirby
Cast: Scott Adkins, Ray Stevenson, Perry Benson, Sarah Chang, Javad Ramezani, George Fouracres, Flaminia Cinque, Beau Fowler, Faisal Mohammed
Running Time: 96 min. 

By Paul Bramhall 

It’s been 4 years since the first Accident Man hit the screen in 2018, or to put it in Scott Adkins terms, 17 movies ago (11 of which he was the star!). The DTV genres hardest working action star, his appearances in 2022 so far have been relegated to what are essentially extended cameos in the vampire flick Day Shift and forgettable Section 8, so the news that there was going to be a sequel was reason for fans to be excited. Landing in the form of Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday, Adkins closes out the year with a role that places him front and center.

Wearing multiple hats once more, including producer, choreographer, coming up with the story, and of course starring, Adkins wisely brings back many of the cast and crew from the original. In front of the camera Ray Stevenson (last seem hamming it up in the Tollywood mega-hit RRR) is back as Adkins’ mentor, as is Perry Benson as the assassin Finnicky Fred. Behind the camera Stu Small has again penned the script (who seems to have made a career out of scripting Scott Adkins flicks!), and frequent Adkins collaborator Tim Man also returns as an additional choreographer. When we say ‘additional’, the reason is Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday comes with a whopping 6 fight choreographers, with main choreography duties going to the trio of former Jackie Chan Stunt Team member Andy Long (Luc Van Tien: Tuyet Dinh Kungfu, Boyka: Undisputed), Hung Dante Dong (Nightshooters, 47 Ronin), and Adkins himself.

Noticeably missing in action is director Jesse V. Johnson. For a while there it looked like Johnson and Adkins had formed a solid partnership, cranking out 6 movies as director and star between 2017 and 2020, however it seems that all good things must come to an end. In place of Johnson, director duty is shared by the The Kirby Brothers, who consist of George and Harry Kirby. After helming several shorts together over the last 10 years, Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday is their first shot at a full-length feature, and thanks to George being a stuntman he met Adkins previously when they both worked on Dr. Strange in 2016. Johnson was of course also a stuntman before he started directing, so in many ways you could say the tradition is being kept by having at least half of the directorial duo come from the same background. 

After offing almost all of his co-workers in the original, the sequel opens with Adkins explaining in voiceover how he hopped on the first available plane out of Heathrow, which is how he came to end up setting up base in Malta. It turns out there’s plenty of work available on the Mediterranean island, however when a handsomely paying hit comes through targeting the son of a fearsome mafia heiress, she hires Adkins to keep him safe. Using Finicky Fred as collateral, who’s on the island trying to find his true love that he recently met online, Adkins soon finds his back against the wall as 5 of the worlds best assassins arrive looking to make the hit, with only his fists and feet standing in their way.

Any concern that the sequel may not be able to strike the same distinctly foul-mouthed British tone of the original is quickly put to bed within the opening minutes. Seeing Adkins riding his Triumph motorcycle around the Maltese streets during the opening credits, and fly into a rage over learning that Maltesers aren’t actually from Malta, thankfully proves that the same wit and humour is present and accounted for. For those clocking in purely for the action (and let’s face it, a large demographic of Adkins fans fall into this category), then they only have to wait 4 minutes to get a taste of it. 

One of the best additions to the sequel is the inclusion of U.S wushu champion Sarah Chang, playing a descendent of Wong Fei Hung no less who Adkins has hired to keep him on his toes by having carte blanche to attack him anytime, anywhere. After trying her hand at being an action actress in the Philippines with roles in the likes of The Trigonal: Fight for Justice and Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids, here Chang is given the best showcase of her talents to date, and her fight against Adkins in his apartment is a highlight. The influence of Andy Long’s choreography style is apparent, with a distinct Hong Kong flair to the way the action flows, and plenty of prop breakage thrown into the mix (there’s a running joke involving Adkins being kicked through a glass table which is a hoot).

The action is frequent and consistently high quality, with the simple but effective concept of Adkins standing in the way of 5 of the world’s top assassins, or have his friend be killed. To address the elephant in the room of if Zara Phythian (Tribal Get Out Alive, Underground) appears, a martial artist who was jailed for child sex offences in the lead up to the release, she does, playing one of the assassins in question (although her name is notably missing from the credits). Putting real world events aside, her fight with Adkins is a blast, going from empty handed to incorporating a variety of bladed weapons, and ending on a surprisingly blood splattered note. We even get the Guyver kick thrown in the mix. While all the fights are top shelf, including one against a killer clown who has a congenital insensitivity to pain, the main event of course is the promise of Adkins going toe to toe with Andy Long in their first one on one.

It would be a spoiler to go into any detail, but it’s safe to say that it’s a match-up that delivers on all fronts, even if I admittedly would have liked it to go on for a little longer. This is the fight that I wanted to see Scott Adkins in when I heard he was going to be in Ip Man 4 – fast, fluid, and high impact. Long throws in some ridiculous airborne footwork in a kicking showcase that’s both a pleasure and a rarity to watch. In an era where we’re used to seeing Adkins lay the beatdown, it was a breath of fresh air to see him play a character that struggled to match his opponent’s physical dexterity. The choreography team really outdo themselves in an extended finale that features back-to-back fight scenes, with the Kirby Brothers proving their salt through some innovative camera work. Particularly noteworthy is the way the fight between Chang and an assassin played by Peter Lee Thomas (Hollow Point, Acceleration) is shot.

However the reason why the collaborations between Adkins and Jesse V. Johnson worked so well is that they weren’t just about Adkins kicking people, with scripts and attention to detail that made them feel like well rounded movies. Thankfully the same can be said for Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday, with the banter between the fight scenes being just as entertaining as any of the action. Perry Benson once more plays Finnicky Fred with a kind of amiable ambivalence to the dangers that surround him, and moments such as when Adkins is referred to as a “melted Ben Affleck” deliver genuine laughs. Perhaps the most unexpected supporting character of the year, Benson takes on a kind of Q in the 007 movies roles here, crafting an amusingly makeshift workshop to test out his latest assassination gadgets with varying results.

While the plot around how “even killers need mates” along with his relationship issues with Ray Stevenson may not resonate as much as Adkins’ mission for revenge in the original, and there’s the occasionally ropey CGI effect, these are small gripes in a sequel that delivers on all fronts. When a movie contains forced laxative ingestion, assassins who think they’re vampires, and a ladder being used to impale a skull, it’s hard not to have a good time. There will be those Scott Adkins fans out there who unwaveringly believe that Boyka is the defining role of his career, but with a hint of further instalments to come, I’d be willing to argue that Mike Fallon is the real showcase of the British star’s talents. Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday takes its place as the best martial arts movie of the 2020’s so far. All that’s left to say is, “Flamingo!”. 

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10