My Best Bodyguard

This movie is about Thailand special forces (NSSD) trying to contain a virus outbreak caused by a pharmaceutical company (GBC) that is deliberately infecting people in order to find a cure. The managing director of the company justifies this by saying that the people used as guinea pigs were not doing much with their lives anyway and so are essentially worthless. He pointed out as an example a guy who is always playing video games. I had to laugh (You know anyone like that?). Anyway, the virus is ironically called "HOPE" and is a strain of Ebola but deadlier.

A female reporter (Nicha) gets tipped off about the whole thing by a doctor whose clients were being deliberately infected. This knowledge puts her in direct conflict with NSSD and more specifically it's leader; a guy named "Jet" (Kind of corny but better than "Frank" or "Bill", I guess). He wants everything top secret and she wants to blab to everybody.

Meantime, there's a Super Assassin employed by GBC going around putting people in his cross hairs, including Nicha. The movie is called My Best Bodyguard because nosy Nicha eventually gets her injection of HOPE along with some others --including the "video games" guy. They become the target of NSSD and GBC who want them for their own reasons and so Nicha's estranged father (Yes, Nicha has daddy issues), who pops up here and there trying to look out for his daughter, hires someone to protect her and the other infected.

I had some continuity problems with the story in terms of how they got from point A to B. Some of the action had the same problem. When the Super Assassin (I'm calling him) has a fight with NSSD special forces you couldn't see exactly what he did. The movie editor basically did his fighting for him with "quick cuts". "Slight-of-hand" fighting, I call it. So do I recommend this movie? Not for veteran actioneers or seasoned action movie viewers. The fight scenes are not clean and good enough. These guys are clearly JUST actors folks, not fighters.

There are ample car chases and bullets flying but exploding cars look "rigged" like there is a hidden cable causing the cars to flip to make things look spectacular. As well, the story isn't fresh but a variant and cliché of so many other action movies. So again, If you have a lot of action movies under your belt (as I do) you do not need this. A quick multiple choice quiz before I sign off: If someone immediately opposite you were shot, would you (A) get the hell down, or (B) calmly remain standing and look in the direction of the shooter? If you said "A" you're a normal human being. If you said "B" you're either (1) suicidal (2) an acquaintance of the shooter (3) a child who doesn't know any better, or you're a----- . It's not only multiple choice, folks, but "fill in the blank" as well. I think you know the answer. Love, Boloxxxi.

MY BEST BODYGUARD is a Thai attempt to emulate the success of the action thrillers put out by the late, great Panna Rittikrai. Although Rittikrai has gone to the grave, certain films - like his BORN TO FIGHT remake - live on as shining examples of Thai cinema in general. MY BEST BODYGUARD, by comparison, feels like a cheap rip-off, with a muddled storyline and often laughable execution.

The story is about a sinister pharmaceutical company that's been doing illegal testing on various members of the public, causing them to die as a result of a killer virus. A female reporter investigates the crimes but soon finds herself menaced by both assassins employed by the company and a government cover-up.

Film fans will know that Thai films are often very cheesy in comparison to cinema that comes from other Asian countries and MY BEST BODYGUARD is no exception. The acting is of a general low quality and the main actress in particular - Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Phannavadi, now there's a mouthful - is quite appalling. The filming style is disjointed and headache-inducing, but there are a fair few action sequences which are okay. My favourite is a truck chase clearly copied from the opening scenes of BORN TO FIGHT, but it's still the highlight in this. Watch out for Shawn Yue's random cameo.

Let's start with the title of the movie; "My Best Bodyguard". Aside from having almost nothing to do with the movie itself, why was this chosen as the title of the movie? It sort of leads up to believing the movie to be something else entirely.

The story in "My Best Bodyguard" is about a medicinal company that comes to Thailand to do business. But their sleet is not pure, and they use the Thai people as guinea pigs for their research. It is up to a small group of people that work against the medicinal company and the NCCS to bring the truth out in the open.

For an action movie, then "My Best Bodyguard" had a very dull and boring storyline, that was at best laughable. There were so many things throughout the movie that just didn't make any sense. For example the NCCS shooting innocent people that may or may not have been infected with an unidentified virus. And if CIA was in Thailand, why would they just back out that easily, and why would they be in Thailand to begin with?

Oddly enough, then Thai cars seem even more fragile and prone to explosions than American cars. I thought American movies had ridiculous ways of making cars explode for no reason, but that was all washed aside from what was shown in this movie. It just has to be seen to be believed.

The dialogue in the movie was staggering and forced, and you just sit there watching the movie and curling your toes in disbelief at what some people were saying and the lack of conviction and acting skill that the dialogue was delivered.

The only things that were working out for the movie were some of the action sequences, that were actually nicely executed and looked good. Plus Shahkrit Yamnarm was the one pulling the biggest weight in the movie with his acting, performance and action skills.

If you enjoy Asian action movies, then you are better off with something else, because this movie is just not worth the effort.