SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Micransix Crappy film

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

shiguaman Hear me out, this was overall a VERY good movie. I'm only giving it a 5 out of 10 for ONE reason, and it's more of a personal gripe. This movie kills off just about every single main character. Perhaps it is JUST me, but I watch movies with the hope that the main character has a fighting chance, that he survives. Now, I'm not totally against main or supporting characters dying, but not if EVERY SINGLE ONE dies. This movie's biggest flaw is its unnecessary slaughtering of all the good guys. What is the point of a movie that leaves you with NOBODY to root for at the end? This film thoroughly intrigued, touched, and entertained me until the last scene, when one after another, the fan favorite characters started dying off. Had it had a more enthusiastic, optimistic ending, it would've been on my top rewatch list easily, along with the likes of the Ip Man series and a plethora of Jet Li films. If Ip Man could be emotional yet end happily, this could've too.

david-crean-167-510993 This is an excellently produced, written, and acted film that tugs mightily at the heart-strings even as it mesmerizes with action sequences. Indeed, it borders on emotional exploitation at times, as one character after another meets a gruesome and tragic end. The unfortunate thing, and the reason I can't give it 10 stars, is that the whole spectacle is in service to a fairly transparent ideological agenda: that one must sacrifice, property, happiness, loved ones, and even oneself in service to the vaguely-defined "revolution" that will bring "prosperity to 400 million people." To put it a little more bluntly: the life of an individual is worthless except when sacrificed for the good of the society. To be sure, this isn't the explicitly pro-PRC type of trashy propaganda that rarely even makes its way to America, and the revolution in the film is not the one that toppled Nationalist China and brought Mao to power (although it's not hard to see how one stands in for the other in the minds of the creators, and probably many viewers in the PRC). On the other hand, the film is actually worse than the typical hack-job because the message is diffuse enough that many western viewers (and seemingly many reviewers here) won't even catch it.A troubling movie on many levels, but it's hard to find anything wrong with it as a piece of cinema. Hardly a bad way to spend two hours, but know what you're getting into.

russlawrence Well now I've heard (and seen) it all. I saw the great reviews of this movie, and after watching the amazing "The Man From Nowhere" last night, thought I'd go 2 for 2.Not so!Other reviewers are saying this made you care for the characters. I can't believe that! I was laughing more than anything. How many times can you be reminded over and over and over of the same things... the man trying to protect his son, the man trying to overcome the death of the woman he loved, the man trying to fight for the daughter he almost had... blah blah blah.If it were done with great acting, then maybe, but this is far from it. This is by far the cheesiest movie I've seen in many years. Overacted, over-dramatized, over-directed, over-edited, and even the score was overdone."Over The Top." If Stallone hadn't made a movie with that title, this one should be called that for sure.At least I was hoping for some great action and fighting... but alas no... If it wasn't for the fight scenes starting at about 38 minutes left in the film, I would have given this movie one star.I can't believe I sat through the whole movie until that last part. But at least them I got to see some cool action, even if every time someone "important" to the plot died, they would flash their obituary on the screen... like I was going to cry or something?Honestly, don't believe the hype you're reading about this movie. I'm a HUGE fan of action, drama, and martial arts films. Finding one that has great action, drama, plot, fights, and acting is about impossible (unless it's "The Man From Nowhere"). This movie succeeds in having NONE of those great elements.It's boring. It's supremely cheesy. It's unsatisfying. And now I can't get my Saturday night back. Oh, well... I'll call it an experiment in movie watching and try something else tomorrow. The least I could do is to warn others to NOT waste their valuable time on this cheese-fest.Don't make me say I told you so... Watch something else.

tgairey This movie blew me away. Martial Arts films can be, and have been done so wrong in the past, but this really surpassed my expectations. It was so beautifully shot and choreographed that the subtitles don't pose a problem like they do in some foreign films. Setting the film in the past was done well also. The set direction and costuming married very well the the actors. Speaking of the actors, they did an amazing job as well. You can really tell that they committed to their characters. You really do feel the pain and sense of honor these characters go through in this journey. I definitely recommend this movie for martial arts lovers everywhere. http://tinyurl.com/Bodyguards-and-Assassins