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Jet
Li has plays a private bodyguard hired to look after the wife of
a rich business man. Christy Cheung plays the part of the spoilt
rich man's plaything who is the target of a gang eager to hold her
for ransom. Jet Li must use all of his combat skills in order to
protect her from the aggressors. However, as Li and Cheung spend
more and more time together in the line of fire Cheung begins to
have feelings for the straight-laced hero...
Based on the Kevin Costner film 'The Bodyguard' this interpretation
borrows heavily from that film. However, all of the regular Hong
Kong touches have been added such as upping the action content and
spending less time explaining the story! Yuen Kwai (the director)
has always been quite good at crafting non-action scenes ie. 'My
Father the Hero' but here there is one major hole in the plot -
why does Christy Cheung hate Jet Li one minute and then fall in
love with him the next?! And the following scene where she tries
to seduce him does not make sense either (what man would refuse
the advances of Ms. Cheung?) However, this is a minor criticism
as the majority of people will be watching this film to see Li kick
some serious butt. And he does. For the first half of the film there
is a distinct lack of action but the end more than makes up for
this with a half hour action sequence in which Li shows off both
his wushu and gunplay skills.
There was something about this film that I really liked, the concept
was a good one and Jet Li is very effective in his now familiar
serious hard man role. The locations were good too from the prolonged
shoot out in a shopping mall to the excellent swimming pool rescue.
Overall probably Jet Li's best modern day film for the action alone.
I just wish Yuen Kwai had spent some more time on the cause and
effect...
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