Synopsis:
In a small town bordering China and Russia, a retired bodyguard with early dementia (Sammo Hung) makes friends with a young girl. But when she and her father disappear, he must recall long-abandoned skills to take down the mob and save her.
Legendary actor/fight choreographer Sammo Hung (Once Upon a Time in China and America) returns to the director’s chair for the action-packed drama.
What We Thought:
I liked The Bodyguard, but expected a but more action in it. It’s more story driven, but overall I liked it.
Sammo Hung is a legend so it’s always good to see him on film. He’s always been a bit bigger physically for a martial artist, but he seems to be bigger in this. That does lead to some pretty hilarious Kung Fu Panda jokes. It also shows how talented he is that a man that size can still kick butt.
Hung plays an aging former bodyguard and trainer. His short-term memory is bad and can’t pick out a suspect in a line up after witnessing a crime. A neighborhood girl befriends him while her father gets involved in illegal activities. Hung gets involved with the mobsters and Russians and old abilities kick in.
I expected it to be more balls to the wall than what it was, but the action it did have was still very good. Hung fights a group towards the end that is very cool. There’s a hallway scene dealing with the Russians that is pretty cool too.
The film spends a lot of time on Hung’s memory issues. A neighbor wants to be with him and tries to take care of him. Hung spends time with the neighbor girl because he lost a granddaughter and he likes that relationship. There’s many scenes of Hung with the girl or Hung with the neighbor woman that I wasn’t expecting.
The Blu-ray looks good. The action looks good in HD. Audio has easy to hear dialogue and score. Bonus features consist of Making of and Trailer.
The Bodyguard isn’t quite what I expected, but it’s overall still worth seeing if you like Asian cinema. Sammo Hung is great as usual so fans of his must see it. Overall it is…
RECOMMENDED!
Bonus Features:
- Making Of
- Trailer
Cast & Crew:
- Sammo Hung
- Andy Lau
Recommended If You Like:
- Ip Man
- The Mobfathers
- Sammo Hung
The Nerds Templar 