Leofwine_draca BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING is, surprise, surprise, a Chinese remake of the Kevin Costner-starring Hollywood hit THE BODYGUARD. I had the misfortune to watch the Americanised version of this, entitled THE DEFENDER, which substitutes the original dialogue with some really bad dubbing, but nevertheless I enjoyed the film as an efficient action thriller of the kind popular during the 1990s in Hong Kong. This one mixes the kind of gunplay familiar from John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat movies with more traditional martial arts mayhem courtesy of Jet Li. The plot is lightweight and slim and the romantic scenes are more annoying than touching, but nevertheless this is a film that delivers in the action stakes, providing solid, reliable fare.Director Corey Yuen is a dab hand at crafting beautiful action sequences and the choreography is top-notch here as usual. There's a massive shoot-out in a shopping mall at around the halfway mark which doesn't disappoint and an excellent climax using all kinds of props in a gas-filled house that does well to avoid the usual clichés. Some dodgy looking wirework pops up here and there but doesn't spoil the otherwise engaging action. I also liked the hard edge in the fights; Li disposes of his enemies in a violent way and yet that violence is never gratuitous or dwelt upon too much.In the titular role, Li is as fine as ever, still looking as young as he did in THE MASTER and playing the kind of ruthless, incorruptible figure that crops up time and again in his career. He's a tour de force in the fight scenes and good in the acting stakes too. Unfortunately, Christy Chung is intensely irritating as his ungrateful charge, but support from the likes of Kent Cheng (CRIME STORY) and Collin Chou (FLASH POINT) help to soften her presence and to be fair she does get less annoying as the film progresses. I wouldn't call BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING a masterpiece, but it is a dependable thriller that ably does what it sets out to do: entertain.

rory_penland If you liked "Black Mask" for it's kung-fu (pronounced gung-fu in Asia) action, you will love the final gung-fu battle of this movie. Trying to fight a battle with a more than worthy opponent AND the house is filling up with gas fumes. Very clever.The girl is annoying in the first half of the film, but that is usually the case in Hong Kong films of this nature. The ladies are written to be comic relief.I can not comment on the dubbing as I have seen the original Chinese version on TV here in China, but usually the dubbing in these older Chinese action films is hilariously bad. You may have fun with that as well. This is not the type of film you want to take seriously. It is a escapist gung-fu police thriller.My only beef is that I would have liked to have seen more gung-fu action and a little less gun play. It is a nice action rental to kick back and watch with friends.

backlash-1 Well it's nice to finally see Jet Li in a movie that's not martial art related. Playing a superb bodyguard trained in Red China, hired to protect a beautiful girl he's doing a fine job. The fighting sequences in this movie are among the best I've ever seen, shooting from the most impossible angles while jumping around like crazy to avoid his enemies. You gotta see this to believe it! I know there are a lot of Chinese action movies like this but if u want to see one, be sure it's this one!!!

smakawhat Considering that I felt like picking up a new Jet Li film to see some but kicking and brainless hand to hand fighting, I grabbed this title.Unfortunatly, this movie contains more gun battles (ala Chow Yun Fat but nowhere near as good), than Jet Li and company's acrobatic fighting. Thus it was a let down.The faucet fighting was interesting and even funny, considering this was something totaly unexpected in a Jet Li film for me, more on the line of say Jackie Chan.But alas I'd recommend Fist of Legend, Tai Chi Master, or even the Enforcer over this dissapointment.Rating 4 for martial arts Rating 3 for overall movie score