By Mark Pollard | Published June 15, 2009

From the makers of indie actioners DISPLACED and UNDERGROUND comes BODYGUARD: THE NEW BEGINNING, an action crime drama directed by Cheung Chee-keong and starring Vincent Sze (INVSIBLE TARGET), Richard Ng (JIANG HU: THE TRIAD ZONE), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (ELEKTRA), and Stephanie Langton. The film arrives on DVD today in the U.K.

A NEW BEGINNING focuses around the story of Leung, the bodyguard of a Chinese Triad boss, Wong, to whom his loyalty is unrivaled. Living in Hong Kong, Wong requests that his bodyguard travel to the UK to protect a young British woman, whose true identity is known only by Wong himself. Even his own errant son, Yuen, is kept in the dark, which leads to a betrayal that threatens to destroy the family and all that his father has worked hard to protect.

By the looks of the trailer, BODYGUARD appears to move Britain’s active indie action scene into new, more upscale territory with improved production values and an international cast led by some well known stars. Richard Ng is a long-time veteran of Hong Kong cinema, Vincent Sze is a rising Hong Kong talent and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is an easily recognizable Hollywood character actor who recent had a guest appearance on the hit TV series HEROES where he played a sword smith.

Action choreography is provided by Anthony Carpio, a Hong Kong film veteran with previous credits that include BLOOD HEAT and THE ACCIDENTAL SPY.

The only film I have seen from producers Mark Strange and Cheung is DISPLACED, an entertaining sci-fi actioner that made great use of its limited budget and delivered very solid action. Where BODYGUARD seems to have surpassed this earlier work is in gaining the support of our friend Mike Leeder and his associate Ean Tang, both of whom brought in the international talent. DISPLACED managed to get released in the U.S. courtesy of MTI. Hopefully, BODYGUARD will land a similar deal.

Related Topics:
Bodyguard: A New Beginning (2008)  •  DVD