CD REVIEW - BODYGUARD: A NEW BEGINNING


Bodyguard: A New Beginning
Music by Stuart Hancock
MovieScore Media MMS-09014
17 Tracks 54:42 mins

Following my enthusiastic review of the music for MovieScore Media's previous Stuart Hancock release Underground comes his score for the same director, Chee Keong Cheung's latest film Bodyguard: A New Beginning. The plot concerns a Hong Kong bodyguard who is sent to the UK to protect a woman whose identity is known only to his boss.
As with Underground, the composer combines orchestra and electronics for his score and,
whilst its trumpet-lead main theme is good enough, it isn't as memorable as his previous assignment. But it's still pretty good, though not as ever-present as the Underground theme; emerging first after a dark and propulsive start to the "Opening Titles." The following "Yuen's Betrayal" again starts darkly, before the main theme again emerges briefly and leads to a a pacy ending. "The Brothers" features some particularly powerful percussive writing; whilst the keyboards and strings of "Chloe" offers some momentary light relief, before the violent opening and sad aftermath of "Violation." "Chase" opens tensely, before bursting into percussive action, with variations on the main theme. The brief "Intimacy" is a tentative affair, and is followed by the suspenseful "Petty Thieves," which gains motion as it goes along.
"Guardian Leung" presents a nice, upbeat take on the "Chloe" theme, before we are plunged into despair with "Rejection Part I." The lengthy "Rejection Part II" continues the mood, initially subdued, but ever more anguished as it proceeds; finally giving way to a burst of percussive action, before ending with a somewhat desolate female vocal.
Things are more upbeat at the start of "Return to Hong Kong," with both the main theme and "Chloe" vying for attention, but the wordless female soon returns and its pretty subdued thereafter. More tension follows at the start of "Cat and Mouse," but things pick up to take on a flowing Oriental feel, before things get more menacing. "Rooftop Fight" presents more powerful percussive writing, with a brief chorus of sampled female voices marking its fateful conclusion.
"Redemption" presents a mournful variation on the "Chloe" theme, followed by a big, vengeful statement of the main theme. "The Final Conflict" starts pretty much where the previous track left off, leading to a powerful, percussive showdown and dissonant conclusion.
After a subdued opening to the "End Titles," the composer gets plenty of time to develop his propulsive "Opening Titles" music, before injecting an ethereal note with the return of the airy female vocalist, before the final powerful conclusive variation on the main theme.
Another worthy effort from Stuart Hancock then, a composer I'm hoping to hear more of in the future.
Bodyguard: A New Beginning is available on CD and to download, so get along to www.moviescoremedia.com/bodyguard.html for samples, ordering info, and even a trailer for the film.