La 14ème lame

I tried 3 times, but there was no chemistry, the style doesn't appeal to me, and the story didn't involve me...

Any true fans of kung fu know we watch these films for one reason and one reason only. The action! And this film was no disappointment in that regard whatsoever. The action was never gone for long from the screen, and every sequence was a sight to behold. Of course, a somewhat intelligible story is a good bonus. Guess what, this has that too. In my opinion, this is Donnie Yen's best film since IP Man. Also, unlike IP Man, it has great re-watch ability. This is very highly recommended to any true fans of the genre who want to see some mind blowing unique action, with some incredibly crazy weaponry. 9/10 stars, one of my favorites.

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.

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" 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!"