14 Blades

14 Blades (2010) is a movie I recently rewatched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows a secret service agent during the Ming Dynasty who is sent on a secret mission only to discover he has been betrayed and now his former colleagues are after him. Can he clear his name before his former colleagues kill him?

This movie is directed by Daniel Lee (Three Kingdoms) and stars Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey 2), Wei Zhao (Red Cliff), Sammo Kam-Bo Hung (Knockabout), Chun Wu (My Kingdom) and Kar-Ying Law (From Beijing with Love).

Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen are always awesome and worth watching. Yen was ripped and in terrific shape. The attire, sets and cinematography was very well done. The choreography was inconsistent with some scenes well done and some with too much reliance on wires. The integration of CGI into the weapons was also inconsistent with some scenes working better than others. I will say that I did appreciate the variety of weapons used throughout the film.

Overall this is far from a classic martial arts picture but it is worth a viewing. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

"14 Blades" represents the best M.A. movie I have even watched. Thanks to Daniel Lee who wrote this gorgeous piece of art work which portrays some positive human qualities lacking in so many M.A. movies. Qing Long (played by Donnie Yen) possesses some noble qualities of integrity, loyalty, commitment & courage, though a bit ruthless & cunning at times. Qiao Hua (played by Vicky Zhao) is faithful, gentle & optimistic. Another thing I like about this movie is that there are relatively few violent or bloody scenes.

Not a professional action scenes reviewer, I'd rather concentrate on talking about the movie's "Romance". On the surface, Qing Long seems to be using Qiao Hua for completing his own mission, but the trust between them makes their romantic connection very convincing. Qiao Hua, though a bit naive & ignorant of certain personality darkness of her hero, is actually fully committed to him for completing his course of action, thus demonstrating full customer service (we have to bear in mind that Qing Long is a big customer of Qiao Hua's father). Implication for modern day romance is:- Be fully devoted to your lover (rather than being over calculating) when you still have a chance & accept life as it is when you have none.

Qiao Hua shows a cheerful personality & maintains her serenity throughout the whole story, without the slightest resentment towards Tuo Tuo, who brings an end to her romantic journey. This makes her adjust better to the lonely life afterwards. Though the ending is a bit sad, it demonstrates how single women can still lead a meaningful life with the pure memory of delightful experience. This kind of attitude may sound a bit "classical" but forms a great example for people in turmoil situations.

I sincerely hope that Daniel Lee can produce more wonderful M.A. movies in the future, but with a happy ending next time. Donnie Yen & Vicky Zhao do create a perfect match on the screen ("Painted Skin" is a good example). Really looking forward to seeing them again soon in another great movie. Just to copy from Qiao Hua, "When there is hope, life is still inspiring!"

This is another martial arts flick with weapons and it's a pretty good one at that, just isn't great. Mainly it's because the story is sort of flat although all over the place at times. But I liked the comic book style of this movie and since it works sometimes. The title of this movie is the weapons that Donnie Yen's character carries around with him in a wooden box, but they mostly all look generic. Although each weapon has it's purpose, but you can't tell which weapon is which while watching for the most part. Also the 14 blades isn't even used in a special manner, it just seemed like regular swords for the most part. It would have been cool if it showed each weapon with a distinctive different look and style of fighting to it. But that just doesn't apply to this movie for the most part. What starts out as a bit over the place plot while being somewhat interesting quickly becomes a romance movie between Donnie Yen and Zhao Wei's characters. However the fight choreography is done really well in this and doesn't come off as being super lame to watch or anything like that. It seems like Donnie Yen's talent is increasing with every martial arts movie he is in. The set pieces are well crafted as well and if the plot carried it's own weight as well, this would have been a great martial arts movie.

5.8/10

14 Blades is an epic martial arts drama set against a back drop of love, honour and betrayal. The fate of the Chinese empire rests in the hands of one man, who may have to sacrifice everything in order to defeat a rebellion.

The remainder of the cast offer excellent support, and it's especially good to see elder statesman Sammo Hung being cast against type as the bitter, vengeful Prince Quin. My only grumble is that he seems woefully underused, but the run time of 114 minutes is just about perfect.

14 Blades is a very good film. Imaginatively made and skilfully performed. Be prepared for an entertaining Eastern thrill ride with an emotional heart and fabulous performances to drive the story through. If a little more care had been made with the script, this could have been incredible, but it still comes highly recommended. SM

Although it gets off to a shaky start, after the first half an hour 14 Blades acquits itself well as a perfectly serviceable martial arts romp with all the requisite elements, ranging from hard-hitting kung fu action, weapon play and court intrigue to romance, picturesque locations and heroic endeavours. It's all made better than it has any right to be thanks to the presence of martial arts supreme Donnie Yen, who's quickly established himself as my favourite of the modern-day action stars.

14 BLADES sees Yen playing the role of a powerful governmental assassin who finds himself betrayed by a dastardly villain and forced to flee for his life while an endless stream of warriors pursue him. Along the way, he must contend with his growing feelings for a female ally, played by the ravishing Zhao Wei, while at the same time battling a superior warrior women played by Kate Tsui. There's a pointless cameo for Sammo Hung and some decent fight action along the way, although it has to be said that the choreography isn't as superior as I'd expect given Yen's involvement. Still, for martial arts fans this is a fun if disposable outing.