•
Donnie Yen as Shen Chongyang, a policeman addicted to gambling and eager to do anything for money. He helps the bodyguards after Yueru persuades him to do so for their daughter's sake. •
Tony Leung Ka-fai as
Chen Shaobai, the chief editor of
China Daily in Hong Kong. He is kidnapped by the assassins during a raid but manages to escape and rejoin his comrades. •
Wang Xueqi as Li Yutang, a businessman and friend of Chen Shaobai. He initially provides only financial support to the revolutionaries, but openly declares his support for them later and gathers the bodyguards to protect Sun Wen. •
Fan Bingbing as Yueru, Li Yutang's fourth wife and Shen Chongyang's ex-wife. She and Shen have a daughter, who is raised as Li's child. •
Wang Po-chieh as Li Chongguang, Li Yutang's 17-year-old only son who is passionate about the revolutionaries' cause. He serves as Sun Wen's decoy to distract the assassins. •
Leon Lai as Liu Yubai, a beggar who used to be from a rich family. He fights with an iron fan and holds off the assassins alone at the residence of Sun Wen's mother. •
Nicholas Tse as "Si" (Deng Sidi), a rickshaw puller who serves the Li family faithfully and gathers his fellow rickshaw pullers to join the cause. •
Li Yuchun as Fang Hong, Fang Tian's daughter who joins the bodyguards after the assassins killed her father. •
Mengke Bateer as Wang Fuming, a
stinky tofu vendor and former
Shaolin monk who joins the bodyguards. •
Eric Tsang as Smith, the police chief who is initially reluctant to help the bodyguards due to orders from his British superiors. Later, he leads the police to protect the bodyguards' convoy from assassin marksmen. •
Hu Jun as Yan Xiaoguo, the assassin leader who is fiercely loyal to the Qing Empire. •
Zhang Hanyu as
Sun Wen, the revolutionary leader who comes to Hong Kong for a secret meeting with fellow revolutionaries. •
Simon Yam as Fang Tian, a former general living in disguise with his men as an opera troupe in Hong Kong. •
Jacky Cheung as
Yang Quyun, a pro-democracy English teacher and president of the
Furen Literary Society. His death in the prologue marks the first political assassination in Hong Kong. •
Michelle Reis as Liu Yubai's lover •
Zhou Yun as Chun, Si's fiancée. •
Lü Zhong as
Madame Yang, Sun Wen's mother. •
John Shum as Zhang Dayou, a photographer and Chun's father. •
Cung Le as Sa Zhenshan, an assassin. •
Philip Ng as Bai Que, an assassin. •
Xing Yu as Hei Man, an assassin. •
Dennis To as Nie Zhongqing, an assassin. == Accolades ==