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[HanCinema's Film Review] "Bodyguard - 2020"

Soo-han (played by Kang Seok-chul) is a reasonably buff, soft-spoken dude who works in the loan shark industry in Gangreung. Soo-han doesn't seem well-suited to the work, where the main clients are bad people at worst and bad people picking fights with other bad people at best. But Soo-han gets a chance to do something that actually makes his life feel less aimless and pointless when he spots Ye-jin (played by Yoo Ye-bin) accosted by suited thugs at the coast, agreeing to protect her with only a fancy watch as collateral.

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"Bodyguard - 2020" is a pretty straightforward movie. Soo-han gains his purpose in life again by picking a fight with Ye-jin's persecutors to right past wrongs. What makes "Bodyguard - 2020" slightly more interesting than the typical direct to video flick is that there's no forced romance. Soo-han respects Ye-jin, not because she's pretty, but because shes a woman of her word who maintains her dignity. Ye-jin doesn't start drama, or even ask for help. She just prefers to mind her own business.

Soo-han comes to appreciate Ye-jin as a noble client for these reasons, the finer points of the inheritance dispute she's wrapped up in not really being that important. Ye-jin doesn't need to actually be a good person for the narrative to progress. She just needs to be one who doesn't act like a jerk all the time for no reason. As Ye-jin's persecutors dip into the Gangreung criminal underworld to smoke her out, it's clear that everyone is just motivated by toxic masculinity rather than honor.

In this way "Bodyguard - 2020" functions as a reasonably interesting origin story for a character archetype you've probably seen in other movies. Specifically, the loyal chief henchperson who's willing to go above and beyond for their boss in a way that defies the promise of a mere paycheck. Soo-han is grateful to Ye-jin for giving his life purpose. Even if that purpose is just protecting her, Soo-han is happy just to be able to protect something so as to atone for his past cowardice.

This metatext is about the only serious praise I can give to the movie. It's not that "Bodyguard - 2020" is especally bad, it's just unremarkable in every other way. The fight scenes are workmanlike and competent. Despite obvious budget limitations there's a nice smattering of big fight scenes where various suits go after each other. But the fights themselves are quite generic. The acting, commonplace as it may be, outshines the action in most cases.

"Bodyguard - 2020" is the kind of movie where I can at least appreciate that it exists, even if I'm not very impressed by it. This is the sort of the movie that had to be made, in this case by writer/director Son Seung-hyun, by sheer force of will. "Bodyguard - 2020" is also the rare showcase of semi-urban oceanfront Gangreung- a pretty distinct if underutilized location in South Korean film, although I'm not sure that many people aside from myself can notice the difference between it and any other random seaside South Korean location.

Review by William Schwartz

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"Bodyguard - 2020" is directed by Son Seung-hyun, and features Kang Seok-chul, Yoo Ye-bin, Ji Hye-in, Kim Jin-Woo-VIII, Choi Cheol-ho, Han Kook-in. Release date in Korea: 2020/04/30.

 


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