Bodyguard: Protecting Those in Power

You can tell that writer-director Song Seung-Hyeon has put a lot of care and forethought into his thriller Bodyguard. There's recurring imagery (a chess set), recurring gags (the airgun), and an attempt to build a layered narrative (flashbacks, blurred for effect). But Song's film, like the feet of its damsel-in-distress (Yoo Ye-bin), has two many band-aids. Why does a high-ranking businesswoman of a billion-dollar company have only a fancy watch as an asset to offer her protector (Kang Seok-chul) as payment? Why does the third banana in a collection agency blurt out a fast-food dish when he see this same woman's photo? And why do we care what happens to her anyway? The answer in every case is because it serves the overall plot.

Song's inability to make Bodyguard progress from Point A to Point B — as well as the acting that gets us there — feel natural means that the film is never more than an apprentice's contrivance. When a rescue intervention abandons nearly all the characters, you have to wonder what's really going on here! But since Bodyguard is Song's freshman effort (I believe), I wouldn't write him off too quickly. He casts fairly well, and has brought in a good cinematographer, an excellent fight choreographer, and a talented location scout as well. Let's give praise where praise is due. Admittedly, some costume choices give pause — What's up with the baseball hat with three earings in its bill? — and one "surprise" necktwist you can see a mile away, but overall Bodyguard has me guardedly optimistic about what comes next for Song. Might the sophomore slump be this filmmaker's jump? Let's all buy a ticket and see.