GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

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.

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

thisissubtitledmovies excerpt, more at my location - When introducing Bodyguards And Assassins – a film based around the real life actions of his grandfather, Peter Sun was asked to comment on the historical accuracy of the film. A laugh went around the auditorium, perhaps filled with veterans of previous Donnie Yen films. Peter Sun laughed, too. Clearly, in bringing the film to the big screen, some embellishments had to be made. Bad news perhaps for scholars of Chinese political history, but great news for fans of martial arts cinema.In saying this, Peter Sun effectively conceded that Bodyguards And Assassins is not really a film about his grandfather. Dr Sun appears in the film only briefly. But through the skilled interweaving of political thriller and Chinese hero myth, the film succeeds in conveying his importance, in the willingness of ordinary and extra-ordinary people alike to sacrifice everything for his success. In that, Bodyguards And Assassins is not just a hugely watchable martial arts experience, but a surprisingly effective vehicle for a political subtext that echoes in China to this day.

KineticSeoul When I first saw the trailer to this film, I thought it was going to be a all out kung fu movie and to some degree it is. The first half of the film is basically the building of the main action in the movie. The plot is basically about a group of bodyguards that is trying to protect a man named Sun who is the leader of the revolutionaries that will overthrow the corrupt Qing Dynasty. Of course Empress Dowager Cixi of Qing Dynasty won't sit around for this to happen and sends assassins to kill Sun, who is the people hope. Now the first half the film has more to do with plotting, not a great story but still kinda deep for these types of films. Mainly to do with planning and recruiting, while also having and willing to sacrifice to reach a greater goal. Now for some of the first half of the film was kinda believable, well until the wacky kung fu stuff started happening during the second half. I will admit though, the first half of this film just wasn't entertaining and although the second half is super silly and not believable it was entertaining. Now although some claim this film is based on a true story, it's just laughable. It really does feel like your watching some kung fu mayhem than a actual real events. The movie also has some of the most stupid death scenes I ever seen, I mean at first you feel some sympathy for some of the characters but after watching some death scenes it all goes down the drain. In fact instead of feeling sad, it's just laughably stupid. Although the first half again was somewhat believable the drama in it was just so boring and the second half was entertaining but unconvincing for a movie about a actual event. At the end though you don't feel anything for the heroes sacrifices, instead it's just laughable and feels like the movie tries to insult them. I did enjoy some of the stupid action scenes though. 6.2/10