Tuesday, November 15, 2016

The Bodyguard (超级保镖) (HIFF 2016) - Movie Review



The Bodyguard, an official selection of the 2016 Hawaii International Film Festival, is an action packed kung fu film that pits super powered brothers against each other. Written and directed by Yue Song, the film stars Wai Man Chan, Collin Chou, Yue Song, Xing Yu, and Li YuFei.



The Review:
Yue Song has put together one of the most non stop, action packed kung fu films I have seen come out of China in quite some time. The pacing will leave you breathless as Song lines up fight scenes one after another and each raises the stakes higher than the last. You would think that this relentless assault on the audience's senses would become tiresome but there is just enough story and exposition to keep things from getting too out of hand.


The thing I found most interesting about the fight scenes is how it leans more towards being a super hero film as the two main characters, who are brothers, each have developed extraordinary skills that are only really explained by lots of training. This raises the stakes even higher as the hero is able to take on dozens of generic bad guys and there ends up being more than enough ass kicking to go around. Make sure you stay for the credits as there are bits and pieces of making of footage, the most interesting of which is watching the actors and stunt men feeling the effects of the extreme work they put in to make this film possible.


The Verdict:
The Bodyguard is wall to wall high flying action with some family drama and a bit of a love story thrown in for good measure. Aside from being a little over the top at times, this is a very enjoyable genre film and, if you like a good martial arts flick, you will definitely get a kick out of this one.

Check out more TwoOhSix coverage of the 2016 Hawaii International Film Festival.





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