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Vanguard | 2020 | NR | – 1.6.3
Why is “Vanguard” rated NR? The MPAA has not rated this film. The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a swimsuit scene and some flirting, many scenes of gunfire exchanges, a lion attack that presumably kills a man off-screen, fighting using martial skills, attacks with knives and explosives leaving many people battered with little blood shown, a few kidnappings, and some mild language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
An international security firm tries to protect a wealthy businessman and his family from former associates, who want him to tell them where he’s hiding a fortune in ill-gotten gains. The firm’s CEO (Jackie Chan) and several of his operatives go to work with weapons, martial arts and technology. Also with Yang Yang, Miya Muqi, Lun Ai, Ruohan Xu and Zhengting Zhu. Directed by Stanley Tong. [Running Time: 1:48]
Vanguard SEX/NUDITY 1
– A woman wearing a swimsuit that reveals bare back, shoulders, cleavage and legs to the hips poses for photographs around a swimming pool while two men ogle her and one winks at her. Two men in a swimming pool are shirtless and we see their bare shoulders, chests, abdomens, backs and legs. A woman wears low-cut tops that reveal cleavage in a few scenes.
► A man and a woman flirt in a few scenes. A woman talks to several young women about a young man and describes him as being “unattached.” A man is described as a “serial womanizer” and an “abuser.” A woman is asked to act as a “honey trap” to distract a man. A man tells another man, “I could have got lucky tonight.”
Vanguard VIOLENCE/GORE 6
– Two men attack two security guards guarding a man and a woman as they get into a car; one guard is stabbed and the other is shot (we see some blood) and the couple in the car is taken away. A man punches and kicks another man knocking him unconscious, he fights another man and takes his gun, several other armed men shoot at him and another man in an extended fight scene; one man is not armed and smears hot chili pepper juice in a gunman’s face (we see his eyes and face reddened from the peppers), a man sprays a gunman in the face with a fire extinguisher, throws the canister at him and he falls to the floor moaning, a man throws food at a gunman and another man attacks him with knives and a cleaver, and an attacker’s had is dipped in boiling oil and he screams and falls to the floor; two men jump out a window and crash onto a parade dragon on the street below (they moan and stumble away) and they and a woman are picked up in a limousine that speeds away reversing on streets and nearly being struck by an oncoming bus before spinning around and speeding away. The timer on a bomb vest is initiated and a man attempts to defuse the explosives. A man restrained in a chair is being tortured by another man (we see blood on his hand) and he holds a glowing hot stone toward his face and we see several tools of torture hanging on a wall nearby.
► Men with guns shoot near a woman and a lion in the wild while other people shoot at the first group; a man grabs the barrel of a gun as it shoots and burns his hand on the hot metal, a woman fights a man that tries to hit her with a machete, a woman shoots a tranquilizer dart into a man’s arm as he fights another man and he pulls the dart out and stabs the other man several times with it (the first man collapses later); the woman calls a lion to help her, it jumps over a car and tackles a man to the ground (presumably killing him but we do not see this), a man drops a knife and it lands in his foot (we see a bloody wound later), and several men are shot and blood spurts as the first woman speeds into water in a vehicle that transforms into a boat and she and several others float away.
► A woman flying a hover vehicle shoots at men with guns that are shooting at other members of her team; there is an extended gunfight as people move through a market and explosives blow up in the area; an RPG is launched and blows part of a building down burying an injured man that was shot in the chest earlier, under rubble (we are told that his vitals have stopped but he is revived later). A man flying a hover vehicle shoots a weapon that sprays pink goop.
► Vehicles driven by armed men and with hyenas in the back, speed through a jungle searching for a woman; the hyenas jump out and one slams into a car door as it is opened (it’s OK), the armed men get out of the vehicles and other men and women fight with them; the hyenas jump on the back of another vehicle trying to bite a man and a woman and the vehicle speeds into water and turns into a boat as two other vehicles sail over a ridge and crash hard into the water.
► A rocket launching device is launched in the air and fires at a US Navy vessel: the rockets are shot out of the sky by the vessel’s defensive weapons, and one rocket strikes a plane on the deck of the ship and it is thrown into another plane that explodes (we hear that there are injuries but no deaths). Many men in an industrial garage shoot at each other and several vehicles are driven out of the garage and speed on roads (one slams into a man inside and he is thrown against a wall but we do not see injuries); one vehicle nearly crashes into a truck and the driver is taken away by police, and another vehicle flips off the road (we do not see the driver).
► A vehicle on water is chased by small boats and skidoos in rapids toward a raging waterfall; several people fight in and between the boats, and many people end up in the water grabbing onto fallen trees and other mounds of dirt and debris; a man in one boat is struck hard by another man and he falls unconscious with a bloody wound on his head, other people are washed over the waterfall and a woman is rescued by a man on a skidoo and they take refuge on a small island before being rescued by a helicopter. A woman riding a motorcycle chases a man driving a car; she leaps onto the car and wraps a strap around the driver’s neck to stop him. A man driving a large vehicle speeds through stopped traffic throwing the other vehicles off the road and flipping one over and the first vehicle crashes through the glass walls of a shopping mall, speeds along the hallways and crashes over a balcony and the men from the car and other men shoot at each other in the mall; one man is shot in the leg and thrown into a large shark tank on display (we see him being circled by sharks as his leg wound bleeds in the water).
► A man prepares a weapon and programs it to attack a docked US Navy vessel. Several vehicles drive through fortress streets and crash through two stone walls, drive down an embankment, crash through an apartment where a man and woman are dining, and crash on top of truck beds loaded with filled water barrels.
► A man with a bomb vest attached to him and another man are blown through a hole in the floor and they are both covered with dust and rubble (but otherwise OK). A man holds a sword to a woman’s neck and threatens to kill her if a man doesn’t give another man information; he raises the sword and a sniper shoots him in the arm (blood spurts); many people open fire on each other and people run for cover. A man is strapped into a bomb vest with blocks of C4 attached to it after he declines to work with another man. A man is held with a gun to his chest while another man questions him and yells; the gunman then takes a woman to another part of the room and threatens to kill her if the first man does not give him information. Many vehicles enter a fortress and armed men move into position. A man gives himself up in exchange for his daughter’s freedom.
► A woman tied to a chair cries and asks a man tied to another chair, “Will they really kill us?” A man is described as a “serial womanizer,” an “abuser,” we hear that he has a “violent temper,” and we see photographs of a woman with bruises and abrasions on her face after the man beat her. A man yells, “An eye for an eye.” A young boy is given an action figure doll of Captain China, and he says, “Captain China is better than Captain America.”
► Many men and women in opposing groups arm themselves for a mission to rescue two people that have been kidnapped by a man. Several men shoot guns into the air and yell as they pull away in vehicles. A man describes a business arrangement he had with another man that was killed.
► A woman is shown snuggling with and lying on an adult lion in the wild as a man in a cage (for safety) photographs them. A woman and a man are lifted into an aviary observatory in a tall tree where the man sleeps off a tranquilizer. A man feverishly does CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on an unconscious man and when he is unable to revive him, he cries and yells (he’s revived later).
► Several people crawl through sewer drains and remark about the smell; we hear a bit of gagging and coughing and rats scurry around them). A man spits on the ground several times and we see saliva leaving his mouth. A man removes a scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face and we see that his forehead and across his eyes are painted with dark makeup to make him look Middle Eastern. A man is shown with bloody abrasions on his face and his arm is in a sling with a bandage on his hand.
Vanguard LANGUAGE 3
– 2 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 4 mild obscenities, name-calling (poachers, murderous scum, evil, Chinese ducks, serial womanizer, scumbag, honey trap). | profanity glossary |
Vanguard SUBSTANCE USE
– A man is shot with a tranquilizer dart and he collapses, and a reference is made to drug gangs. A man eats and a glass of wine is seen on the table in front of him (he does not drink). A man smokes a cigarette in a few scenes.
Vanguard DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Unscrupulous business people, arms dealing, wildlife preservation, revenge, nationalistic propaganda, patience, luck, ethics, torture, Captain China, Captain America.
Vanguard MESSAGE
– Greed is the root of all evil. Chinese security forces are brave, honest and true — the Dubai police force is good too.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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