Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Simon Yam, Xueqi Wang | Written by Tin Nam Chun, Junli Guo, Bing Wu, James Yuen
UK Certification 15 | UK RRP £12.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 133 minutes | Directed by Teddy Chen
Marketed for the most part as a straight-up martial arts action romp to the degree that only the Far East can reach, Bodyguards and Assassins doesn't live up to how it has been portrayed, which may very well be disappointing to hear for those who have been looking forward to this film—namely me—but having seen it, the question arises of how exactly you would market it, not only differently but at all: it's a Chinese historical epic with an identity crisis.
First and foremost there's slight audience alienation with the historical element. You're going to benefit from reading a little into China's past otherwise you may find the story hard to follow at first, which is about revolutionary Sun Wen's journey to overthrow the corrupt Qing Dynasty in 1905, and the dangerous road he must travel with his sympathisers to conquer his political objectives, which is ridden with members of the opposition hellbent on killing him.
The performances shine in a film where the all-star cast takes the spotlight. It's a strongly character-driven piece, but that's also its weakness. The first half of the film is spent slowly developing characters. Normally that wouldn't be a bad thing, but not when the movie is over two hours long. Instead it gets tedious and you sit there helplessly beckoning the film to move at a swifter pace and get into the meat of the story, which it eventually does, but it has you ravenous for some much promised action scenes, and when they do finally arrive, they're completely unsatisfying, shot too fast and furiously so you can't really make out what's going on. And what's with the wire-fu? The film's based on history and takes a very serious, proud nationalist direction, not a fantastical one like in the sensational Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon of 2000. It just doesn't fit. The same can be said about the score. One minute the stunningly recreated Hong Kong skyline of 1905 is sweetened by the aural presence of a distinct, grand orchestra, and the next a totally out of place thundering of electric guitar riffs.
If the film was 45 minutes shorter and had a different director's vision, perhaps it would be a Chinese epic in substance and not just scale. It's a good script that definitely had the potential pre-production to be salvaged for a tighter length and be woven into something enjoyable, but rather tragically Teddy Chen had to come along and lay ruin. Like Chastity Bono, Bodyguards and Assassins exists in another body.
EXTRAS ★★ Behind the scenes features on the characters, set design, action, costumes and make-up.