The Defender

Hong Kong movie was hot in the late '80s, and into the '90s, and this is one of the movies from that era. The casting is unusual, and so is the plot. Jet Li, wasn't all that well known at the time, and this was Miss Chinese International 1992 Christy Chung's first big role ( I actually liked the miss Chinese International 92 runner up more than Christy, and she would have been perfect for this role ).

Jet Li's star was on the rise starting around the time this movie was made, and he starts getting noticed in the US around this time also. Simon Yam was briefly wooing Christy shortly after this movie was made. Simon of course had many other options as he was one of the most eligible bachelor in Hong Kong.

The movie's title is almost verbatim fact as Jet was from China, and Christy was from Canada. The unusual mixture of the two culture shows in the mood of these two actors. The plot is also unusual in that an operative from China protects a rich capitalist girl. The movie's background looks more modern than the present day Hong Kong. Hong Kong seems to have slid backwards in culture since its repatriation. This is evident when you see this movie.

So this is an interesting movie, and the producers at Dimension Film did a really good job of capturing the character of Li, and Chung, and incorporating them into the story. Jet Li is like an unstoppable terminator in this movie, and it correctly highlights his skills, and power.

This is an excellent movie, and is worth a watch if you're a Hong Kong movie fan.

John Chang is sent from Bejing to protect the only witness to a murder, Michelle Yeung. However, as the two get in deeper and deeper into the fight for survival, they start to get feelings that could spell doom for the both of them.

Jet Li was some 4 years away from becoming a world star as opposed to his standing in Asia, his pre American efforts are a highly mixed bunch. Here with The Defender we find Li oozing cool and delighting in the art of chop sockery and intricate gun play, but strip away the action and we are left with a pretty empty film. It's a standard fable of bodyguard protects pretty girl (the delicious Christy Chung) and after the initial resentments subside, we find our duo falling in too deep and putting all at risk within their world. However, the action (the point of these pictures as we know) delivers royally, particularly in the last quarter where the ante goes thru the roof and the testo level follows it, it's here where Li and the rest of the grafters earn their respective corn. The finale sequences alone make this picture worth your while, whilst you will rarely see a skateboard and a torch be so intricately and funnily used at the same time!

Instantly forgettable outside of the action set pieces, it still manages to be an entertaining watch for the action junkies amongst us. 5.5/10

If you like Corey Yuen's balletic gunfighting, more recently demonstrated in 2002's "So Close," then you will enjoy the earlier "Bodyguard from Beijing." This film is fun to watch, and manages to produce some surprises despite the formulaic bodyguard-and-rich-bratty-girl plot. The schmaltzy sequence with the song is the only part where the movie drags. However, given Yuen's preference for gunplay, Jet Li fans are apt to be disappointed, since Li has less opportunity to showcase his kung fu skills. Christy Cheung gets the job done in the damsel-in-distress role, and to paraphrase Dorothy Parker, she plays the range of emotions from A to B.

The Bodyguard From Beijing aka The Defender is a solid action classic starring Jet Li and directed by Corey Yuen. Prior to this project, Jet Li had only done period kung fu movies. This is his 1st modern action movie that combines martial arts with gunplay. Jet Li is a bodyguard from mainland China imported to protect a prosecution witness ( the gorgeous Christy Cheung) from harm. Christy Cheung's character initially does not like the elite bodyguard hired to protect her. As she falls into danger, Jet Li keeps her out of harms way, she then finds appreciation for Jet Li and his dedication to his job. A bond and mutual attraction grows between them. Kent Cheng appears in this as well as a cop assigned to work with the bodyguard. Kent, equally adept at drama and comedy is mostly the comic relief for the film. Corey Yuen did a fine job directing here with keeping the right tone, telling the story fluently with the right amount of action and getting good performances from the cast. Corey also is the action choreographer so he is responsible for the quality of the action also, which was done well with a healthy dose of guns, explosion and kung fu. He also works with Jet Li as action choreographer on all of Jet's US films. Overall, TBFB is a solid action flick and when I want to watch a Jet Li movie with guns this is my 2nd choice only to the awesome, incredible action classic Black Mask.

Bodyguard from Beijing is a HK remake of Hollywood's The Bodyguard starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. But HK's version is quite different and a whole lot better. First of all, the relationship between the two stars of the movie (Jet Li and Christy Chung) has more tension and is more believable. And the action is incomparable. The shopping mall scene and especially the end fighting scene are simply too awesome to describe. You have to see it for yourself. Albeit the fact that there are some melodramatic scenes, this movie is a must for any Jet Li fan or wushu/action fan.