Review by Justin Bateman
Stars Donnie Yen, Wei Zhao, Chun Wu, Kate Tsui, Sammo Hung | Written by Abe Kwong & Daniel Lee
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £17.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 114 minutes | Directed by Daniel Lee
It’s the dawn of the Ming Dynasty and the Emperor has assembled the ultimate collection of bodyguards, orphans trained to the utmost levels in protection, fighting and killing. These guards are the Jinyiwei and are led by the most skilled fighter in the land, Qinglong (Yen). As leader, he holds the 14 blades, a box of knives, swords and arrows. But when the Imperial Court is usurped, Qinglong finds the Jinyiwei rebelling and his original quest to help the Emperor becomes one of survival as well.
Actually, it’s a bit more complicated than that as is often the way with these martial arts epics but a) I don’t want to spend half of this review revealing the minutiae of the plot and b) don’t tell anyone but I actually got a bit confused and it took me a while to catch up again. However, the brilliance of a film like 14 Blades is that while you’re figuring out who’s who and why they’re doing what, there are some fantastic things to look at.
Naturally it helps if you’re a fan of martial arts fight scenes. Unlike say shoot-em-ups, swordplay has its own unique beauty and combined with the balletic grace of martial arts makes watching these scenes a pleasure. No matter that they’re carefully choreographed and utilise wire work almost to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon levels at times, it is just plain fun to watch.
Director Daniel Lee has a very clear vision of what he wants to show and does it in breathtaking fashion and with no little imagination, and all displayed in fabulous high definition. You might imagine that nigh on two hours of frenetic action would soon outstay its welcome but not a bit of it. The box of the 14 blades is itself a genius bit of kit, half old-fashioned levers and pulleys, half Batman-style gadgets, while the fights themselves are varied too – one particularly memorable scene involves Qinglong defeating a gang of opponents with nothing more than the back of his hand and a chicken drumstick.
But despite my banging on about it,
there’s a lot to admire beyond the fighting. The twisty plot drives the narrative nicely, Qinglong’s relationship with Qiao Hua (Wei Zhao) is sweet but never cloying and Judge (Chun Wu) and Tuo Tuo (Kate Tsui) provide more than a match for Yen’s brooding hero figure. There’s also a nice Western feel to proceedings in both setting and score which gives you the feeling that you’re getting several films for the price of one. So if you don’t mind subtitles with your historical violence, this is as good an epic martial arts action thriller drama as you’ll see all year.
EXTRAS ★★ The Making of 14 Blades – 20 minutes of interviews with cast and crew and some clips from behind the scenes; and the trailer.