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Movies & TV

Bodyguards And Assassins

BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS (eOne, 2009) D: Teddy Chan, w/ Donnie Yen, Wang Xueqi. Rating: NNNN DVD package: NNN Rating: NNNN


It’s 1905, and revolutionary leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen is coming to Hong Kong for a secret meeting with revolutionaries from all over China. The Manchu Dynasty sends an army of assassins against him.

Sun’s protection goes wrong, and conscience drives wealthy businessman Li Yue-tang (Wang Xueqi ) into the breach. He rounds up five volunteers: a giant street vendor, an opera girl, a beggar, a cop and his own chauffeur. They have to get Sun through 13 blocks of bustling downtown Hong Kong, lose the assassins, then take him back again. Fifty minutes of high energy action ensue.

It’s all more like an old-school Hollywood war epic, say The Alamo, than the kung fu flick you might expect. The 80 minutes of build-up give ample time to develop issues and relationships. The making-of doc’s Characters section covers the complexities well and without spoilers.

Nominal star Donnie Yen (the cop) provides some poignant moments and outstanding battles, but he’s just one talent among many. The real star is Wang, whose restrained performance gives Li a careworn decency that anchors the movie.

The action and set – a detailed reconstruction of 1905 Hong Kong – are superb. They deserve a more detailed look than the extras give them.

EXTRAS Four-part making-of doc. Widescreen. Mandarin audio. English, French subtitles.

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