Former
Central Security Bureau Agent Ding Hu always was a man of few words, but now
even more so. Although he was already experiencing the initial effects of
dementia, his guilt has become even more debilitating. He will probably never
forgive himself for losing sight of his still missing granddaughter, but he
might have a chance for a small measure of redemption when gangsters threaten Cherry
Li, the little girl next door in Sammo Hung’s star vehicle, The Bodyguard (a.k.a. My Beloved Bodyguard, trailer here), which releases
today on DVD and BluRay.
Spurned
by his grown daughter and sick at heart, Ding relocated to a provincial city
near the Russian border. It would be a prime spot for old spooks to moonlight,
but it is the gangsters who do most of the fighting. The Russian and Chinese
mobs are looking to encroach on their rivals’ respective territory across the
border, especially the erratic Choi. To pay-off his gambling debts to the
Korean-Chinese gangster, Cherry Li’s low life father Li Zheng-jiu steals a bag
of loot from the Russians, but when he realizes Choi is about to pull a
double-cross, he beats him to the punch. Obviously, this will bring down
trouble on Cherry Li, who will naturally be staying with Ding during her father’s
absence.
The Bodyguard has been likened
to Sammo Hung’s Gran Torino or Harry Brown, offering the action icon an
opportunity bittersweet career summation. Of course, much like Clint Eastwood,
Master Sammo is as busy as ever behind the camera, in his case serving as an
action director. Bodyguard is his
first full name-on-the-director’s-chair helming of a film since 1997, yet he
seems to have picked up a few cinematic tricks since then. Indeed, longtime
fans will be surprised how deftly he tugs the heartstrings. As star and
director, Hung pulls off the potentially perilous befuddled senior-precocious
child relationship. He and poised young Jacqueline Chan really are quite
touching and utterly believable together.
There
is a veritable Who’s Who of Chinese language cinema appearing in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World style cameos
throughout the film, but co-producer Andy Lau has the most substantial supporting
role as Cherry’s tragic father. Stealing scene after scene, while playing
radically against type, he reminds us why he is one of the biggest stars in the
world. Li Qinqin also scores points for understated pathos as Ding’s lovestruck
landlord, Madam Park. Eddie Peng probably gets the most action-oriented and
most random walk-on in his eleventh hour appearance. Viewers should also get a
chuckle out of Tsui Hark and old school movie stars Dean Shek and Karl Maka appearing
as the crusty old stoop-sitters-slash-Greek Chorus in Ding’s neighborhood.
However, it is a case of blink-and-you-miss-them for the half dozen other big
name guest stars.
It
hardly matters. This is Hung’s show in every sense—and he is only sharing his
star turn with Ms. Chan. Of course, he is still the best in the business when
it comes to blocking out fight scenes. Despite his heavier “screen presence,”
he also still has the moves. In fact, the action sequences in Bodyguard might be the first to take
into account sixty-some-year-old frame to any extent, consequently raising the
stakes in the process.
