Directed by:
Sammo HungCast:
Sammo Hung, Andy Lau, Chao Deng, Biao Yuen, Hark Tsui, Karl Maka, Dean Shek, Wah Yuen, Qiu Yuen, Po Yuen, Xuebing Wang, Tian Liang, Jun Hu, William Feng, Eddie Peng (more)Plots(1)
Hong Kong action legend Sammo Hung directs and stars as Ding, a retired Central Security Bureau officer now living a quiet life in a small town near the Russian and North Korean borders. Suffering from the early stages of dementia, he keeps to himself—his former professional life quite literally fading away. Into his life comes a young neighbor girl, Cherry, who reminds him of his own lost granddaughter. Together the pair strike up an unlikely friendship, fishing and playing board games. However, Cherry's father, Li (Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau) suffers from a gambling problem, endangering himself as well as his daughter by stealing a bag of jewels from the Russian mob to repay his debt to local gangster Choi. When both father and daughter disappear, Ding must call upon his long-buried skills to save his young friend's life and maybe in the process redeem his own tragic past. Featuring tantalizing cameo performances from Tsui Hark, Yuen Wah, and Hu Jun among other Hong Kong action-cinema mainstays, The Bodyguard culminates in a frenetic climax of nail-biting intensity. (Seattle International Film Festival)
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Reviews (2)
Oops, this is disappointing. Instead of The Bodyguard being a homage to old-school action classics, it's more of a drama about Sammo Hung's relationship with a little girl, which I'm not really curious about. The film only offers three action scenes, two of which are very short and uninteresting. Only the final showdown is enjoyable, where Sammo knocks out the whole pub and breaks maybe 20 shoulders, hands and arms, but with rather strange camerawork and editing, which didn't sit well with me. It's watchable, but I was expecting considerably more. The drought of Asia continues... 55%
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I like that Sammo was so bold to take on most of the main tasks (directing, starring, and choreography). I even appreciate his attempt at an interesting, albeit strangely blurry and slowed-down style of combat. However, overall, the film just feels somewhat inconsistent and simply a bit tired, as if there was too much action for the actors, yet not enough of it. A tribute to legends that could have been a lot better.
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