See, I didn't know about My Bodyguard until YEARS after I saw this flick.

What would have made it work for you?  What would you have changed?

For starters, if you're going to spend 90 minutes teaching the kids to stand up and defend themselves, then you better damn well have the kids be the one to make the change and that means that it's THEM that kicks the bully's ass. Having Drillbit coming in at the last second to take over the fight defeated the entire point of the movie. What was the point in that? The story isn't about him, it's about the kids. Another thing that makes this movie an epic fail is in the two bullies themselves. They weren't believable. There was no "threat" other than the fact that they were douche bags. And another thing that I thought failed was when the Asian Chick kisses the skinny kid, it was so odd and weird in how she (they) went through that whole scene. What I took away from this was that she did NOT want to kiss him and wanted to get through the scene as fast as possible and be done with it. Check it out on YouTube and tell me that doesn't look wrong.

As for the ending, what the f*ck. Drillbit's love interest (teacher) still puts up with being lied to and takes him back anyway? Yes, I get that they set up that she's "attracted to losers, bums and bad guys", but when she was having that talk on the phone when she discovers that he wasn't a "Doctor" after all, it's implied that she has wised up and is moving on. Nope. If anything, she has regressed even more by the way she greets him once he is let out of Jail.

Another movie that absolutely gets it right using the My Bodyguard template with an EPIC fight at the end is Three O'Clock High. If you haven't seen that one, be sure to check it out. I think I will watch that one tomorrow. It's one of my fave "David Vs Goliath" High School movies.

I saw them so far apart that I can't really compare them, but no contest that My Bodyguard ranks much higher, and I really didn't care too much for that flick either.

I'm trying to remember if Drillbit was their muscle or just their consultant, teaching them to fight and being their lookout, like the CIA guy in the van.  That seems far more plausible.  Was he mirroring their plight with his own problems, they teach him while he teaches them, cause I sure as heck don't remember it. 

Well, to be fair, what credible threat could bullies in school pose to kids?  In one script I was toying with the bullies were going to mutilate the main kid character, but no movie... especially a comedy... is going to put that in.  If they had a sub-threat like blackmail or something, that would be interesting (and make the kids far from innocent, so they'd have something more to own up to themselves)... it would be the leverage they have to treat the hero kids like garbage.  Then you could get away from the whole "violence solves everything" approach (which I greatly dislike) and have the kids turn the tables, own up to their issues and take power away from the bullies, THEN the physical thing would be the icing on the cake.