The exemplary plot of The Bodyguard revolves around Wulin who is searching for his martial arts brother Li Jiang who went missing in a modern city called Lengcheng after his teacher passed away, and to do so he joins the Iron Feet Clan. This film also portrays the main character Wu stilling a flip in a city square, the Wu actor manages to fend off some gangsters who are pursuing a rich businessman who has been interrupted while busking where Stephen Chow did so in Shaolin Soccer back in 2001.
The situation becomes somewhat complicated for Wu when Li Jiang shows up with a group of men who are clad in black suits. But, as it turns out, he is the man he is trying to locate. Li, the first disciple who abandoned the Iron Feet clan years ago, now operates a reputable bodyguard business. Naturally, Wu soon gets the job of protecting Fei Fei (Li Yu Fei) the daughter of the rich businessman who he rescued previously. A different set of issues arise however as a stronger and more nefarious gang seeks to hijack control of the city and Wu ends up tracking them down after they simulate the kidnapping of Fei Fei.
Yue Song is surprisingly charming in this old school Kung Fu movie set in a modern setting that has him as a one man army and a dangerously brooding expression paired with his distant smile. Regrettably for him, the storyline steals ideas from almost all action movies and offers nothing original or unexpected. But in this situation, at least, he turns out to be the most enjoyable aspect because he’s Cheng Xiaofeng in hard-hitting and violent films, even if he doesn’t manage to provide enough emotion or saturation.
The choreography was stunning in this movie and Yue alongside Shi Yan Neng, share credit for it. As always, the wire fights are multi person fights and in one scene Yue fights through a warehouse with what seems to be 100 gangsters. He does fight Jiang Bao Cheng who is one of the main supporting characters and the fight is quite brutal. Shi, who is a fellow rogue student also appears in this film and he fights Yue too, not just once but twice. As for the multi person fights, there was always going to be a display of brutality when Yue went against Shi Yan Neng.
Car chase and Jackie Chan style parkour, although short, presented a great showcase of Yue’s prowess as he dived head first into a van and manages to crash through to the other side. But, just like the warehouse scene, this one also contained plot inconsistencies. Due to types of boots that Yue’s character was wearing, the fight scenes fell flat.
Michael Chan Wai Man comes back in a bit role as a soldier and he makes a strong statement when he appears but his role is sidelined, as is the case with Collin Chou who makes an appearance in the form of a brief flashback fight that is just entertaining. Li Yu Fei’s character Fl Fei Fei is an obnoxiously entitled character at first but eventually gets attached to her protector Wu and is the most archetypal Fei Fei one can think of. Although they are shown to be romantically interested in each other, the film does not have the juice to showcase it properly. Shi Yan Neng however does some justice to the role of the angry and bitter student who was frustrated that his Master did not teach him the ‘Clan’s Way of 108 Kicks.’
In a fascinating twist, the film in its original Mandarin asserts itself “Asia’s fiercest kung fu film in the last 20 years” which appears to be a translation software error or a distinctly strange marketing approach, as the English version reads differently, that is “The Best Kung Fu Movie Produced in the Last Two Decades.” However, there is without a doubt that Yue Song, along with his stunt team, cast and crew has worked hard and invested so much in the film regarding the action part. The stunning fight scenes are extremely well choreographed and entertaining to the masses. But Yue should just be the main kung fu actor and don’t get involved into writing or directing or editing.
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