La 14ème lame

This MA drove me into writing my first movie review in IMDb. Yet another one of Donnie Yen's best, I would say. Less meaningful impact than 'Ip Man' and 'Bodyguards and Assassins' in terms of overall storyline but for original ancient MA screenplay, this was a very good one. It's a martial art movie with a non-cheesy love story (I could remember The Myth for MA+cheesy love story).

Character developments were mainly focused on the protagonists (Donnie and Vicky), especially their attraction to each other. What I personally like most about this movie were their love story, creative martial art moves(as usual in most Donnie Yen's movie) and some comical relief from Donnie Yen. A much improved pairing since 'Painted Skin' where they both lack of connection to each other. Just like in recent movies, Donnie Yen never failed his viewers and this time gave even more, by showing off his tattooed six pack torso. And this was by far my favourite character from him, as the anti-hero Green Dragon on his deadly pursue for redemption. And not forgetting his 14 blades, even thought it's the title of the movie but not really the highlight throughout the movie, unlike 'Seven Swords'. Disappointingly, except that we knew the name and functionality of each blade, we never really see them in action, and when they did, I was not sure which blade was being used.

As for the nemesis acted by a promising young TVB star, Kate Tsui, personally I am not a fans of her, and I think she looks too young for a great assassin. I would prefer if they could cast some really talented martial art actor with convincing moves and not just some lifeless and 'pretty' stances from young stars, and heavily CG-ed MA move from Tuo Tuo, especially her disrobing move. Same goes to the other anti-hero Wu Chun's Judge. I did not recognize him instantly as I was not into Taiwan boyband scene but I know right away he is some sort of young model or prettyboy actor. A lot of cool and pretty pose from him but his character serves no purpose, well, maybe his character will earn my acknowledgement if he looked older and less prettyboy. Their acting skill? Don't expect much, just enjoy their costume and weapons, OK.

At the end of this movie, I feel that I will watch this movie again but just for Donnie Yen and Vicky Zhou.

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

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

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

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.