The Treasure Hunter

There were many good movies being aired on the local TV during this Chinese New Year. My favorite was this ‘Bodyguards & Assassins’.

The story line goes like this - In 1905, Dr. Sun Yat Sen or Sun Wen intends to go abroad to Hong Kong; a British Colony, to discuss his plans with his fellow ‘Tongmenghui’ members to overthrow China's corrupt and crumbling Qing Dynasty. The Empress Dowager Cixi sends a group of assassins, led by The Assassin Yan Xiaoguo, to kill Sun. The Revolutionary Chen Shaobai arrives in Hong Kong a few days before Sun's arrival, to meet The Tycoon Li Yutang, a businessman who provides financial aid for the revolutionaries. As Sun Wen's arrival day draws near, trouble begins brewing in Hong Kong as Chen Shaobai's acquaintances are murdered and Chen himself is kidnapped by the assassins during a raid. Li Yutang decides to officially declare his support for the revolutionaries after the newspaper agency is closed down by the British authorities, who do not want to interfere in China's political situation. Li rallies a group of men, including rickshaw pullers, hawkers and a beggar, to serve as Bodyguards for Sun Wen when he arrives. Li's son The Heir Li Chongguang is chosen to act as a decoy for Sun Wen to divert the assassins away while Sun attends the meeting and leaves Hong Kong safely.

The story's journey begins 5 days before Sun’s arrival till the final hour where everybody eventually dies. Lots of famous & big stars (Tony Leung, Donnie Yen, Eric, Tsang, Nicholas Tse, Leon Lai, Fan Bing Bing) in this movie which further strengthen the movie. The story plot was absolutely fantastic. The actions choreography was amazing & breathtaking. It was non-stop actions from when Dr. Sun landed at the Port to leaving Hong Kong. 5 blocks altogether. This is where the Asians; particularly reign supreme compare to the West. The Americans or the Europeans only know how to use bombs, explosives, guns, cars…to deliver their action scenes, but lately Hong Kong & Mainland China Wu Xia movies portray these actions as art. Graceful, yet lethal. It was such a good watch :)

Predictably, everyone dies in the end of the movie. After all this is a war cum revolution movie. Sad & teary. Young lives are wasted. Families come crushing down. Chaotic. People are always the pawns and they have to be sacrifice. Again the question is – to save China, is it worth it?