14 Lâminas

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

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" 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!"

It's about time Donnie Yen made an impact yet again in the fantasy wuxia-pian genre, given the rather recent dismal films with Painted Skin (where he only had a supporting role), An Empress and the Warriors, and Tsui Hark's Seven Swords back in 2005. Most of us went ballistic with his more modern action roles ranging from SPL to Ip Man, and his 14 Blades character of Qing Long (Green Dragon, thanks to those mean looking tattoos adorned all over his upper torso) here looks quite set to become yet another memorable role similar to his morally ambiguous one in Bodyguards and Assassins.

Here, Yen's Qing Long is the General-in-chief bodyguard to, and assassin for a Ming Dynasty king, who had set up the Jin Yi Wei (the Mandarin title), or the Brocaded Robe Guards, a special army known for its dogmatic principles in fulfilling mission objectives, whose loyalty is to the king only, and are at his beck and call to do just about anything the king commands. That of course leaves room for evil eunuchs to manipulate, especially when they can get the king easily distracted with wine, song and plenty of nubile women.

The first few minutes of the film introduces us to the background of Qing Long and his army of bodyguards and assassins, the evil that lurks within the royal family and palace from eunuchs to an exiled prince (an extremely short cameo by Sammo Hung), and of course, the fabled 14 Blades. Unfortunately, we are told of the uniqueness and names of each blade, but never see all of them in action, coupled by the fact that they look quite generic. Only Qing Long is assigned this utility box containing the swords and lugs it everywhere ala El Mariachi's guitar case, and at his will can throw up the appropriate weapon to battle adversaries, including a set of grappling hooks!

Writer-director Daniel Lee managed to create a film consisting of a successful amalgamation of wuxia-pian elements, with iconic fight action sequences set in tea houses, desert duels, forest brawls with abandoned temples and exotic cities enhanced by CG to play host to a film complete with double crosses, a prized possession that everyone is after, and had time to sneak in unrequited romance. In some ways the film plays out like a Cowboy Western with its one man sheriff and an escort agency up against various bands of outlaws in endless desert filled land, with that theme of hope that they'll make it unscathed against changing odds, save the day and to ride off into the sunset with the damsel.

The story though gave way at the midway mark, where it clearly became nothing more than a stringing together of battles and one on one duels, which thankfully were still exciting to sit through, with none of the fast cut edits or crazy closeups that will make you cringe. With the introduction of Wu Chun as Judge, the leader of a brigade of bandits who has this cool boomerang double blade, and Kate Tsui in a role where she only grunts as loud as Maria Sharapova in a return volley, ample time got dedicated for one to mirror QIng Long's transformation and road to redemption, while the other, well, just serves to grunt a lot, in a get up that looks inspired by Medusa, and armed with a serpent sword-like-whip, and powers of CG stealth.

But underneath the fights, the flimsy storyline and gorgeous costumes, 14 Blades turns out to have an incredibly strong romance instead, with Vicky Zhao (her umpteenth period role straight) starring as Qiao Hua, daughter of the Justice Escort agency founder (played by veteran Wu Ma), enamoured by the manliness of the legendary leader of the Jin Yi Wei, since she grew up on fairy tales and harbouring the hopes that a fabled swordsman would one day save society from its evils. In a way her Qiao Hua exhibits the Stockholm Syndrome, being held captive against her wishes, but slowly being drawn romantically to her captive, even endangering herself (in a scene to provide comic relief) by willingly becoming his aide and pawn.

It's far from being the perfect film, especially with unbelievably incoherent flashbacks and the going overboard with explosions (of the RPG type), but Donnie Yen once again shows that when it comes to the fisticuffs, he still has a lot to offer, despite the story's potential that had it go off the blocks strongly, only to fizzle out before the end in a case of severe narrative burn-out.

Whether you enjoy "14 Blades" will most likely depend on what you think of the extensive use of so-called 'wire fu' throughout the film. This term was coined some time ago to describe the martial arts you see in some Chinese films where the stunts can only be achieved using hidden wires and harnesses to make characters magically fly as they fight. This was popularized in the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" but was actually used well before this in some of the Shaw Brothers films of the 1970s (such as "Sister Street Fighter"). I don't mind these crazy techniques if they are used very sparingly. When it doesn't dominate the film and when the actors aren't doing things so insanely impossible that I have trouble enjoying the movie, it can be effective. Instead, I prefer martial arts films where the action is both plausible AND insanely realistic--such as in films like "Ip Man", "In the Blood" and the old Sonny Chiba Street Fighter films. To me, wire fu can become a gimmick-- especially when used too often. And, in "14 Blades" it simply is overused and as a result, the story itself is rather weak.

When the film begins, you learn that in the Ming Dynasty, the Emperors created the Jinyiwei. The Jinyiwei was initially a small group of men who were like a combination of spies and assassins. They were independent of the rest of the government and had the authority to overrule judges and dispatch supposed enemies of the Emperor with their bladed weapons. While this sounds far-fetched, I did some research and found that this really was a secret organization which was created in 14th century China! So, I applaud the film for basing the plot, in part, on real historical facts and characters.

One of these Jinyiwei, General Qinlong (Donnie Yen) is the hero, of sorts, in this film. He is betrayed by disloyal folks within the Emperor's court and spends the entire film being pursued by an outlaw Prince and his band of baddies. Throughout the film, it's one battle after another after another, as the Prince's troops try to kill Qinlong and steal the royal seal. And, the baddest of these baddies is Tuo Tuo, the Prince's adopted daughter. She has all sorts of magical fighting powers, can punch through trees, tosses enormous statues about as if they were made of styrofoam and can appear and disappear, fly and do practically anything. How could Qinlong possibly defeat this magical killing machine?!

To me, if Tuo Tuo had been eliminated from the film completely, "14 Blades" would have been a much better film. She simply was too impossible to believe and her stunts were insanely impossible--yet many of the fight scenes without her were exciting and high-energy. The wizards in The Lord of the Rings films had less powers than she did and to me this was just a distraction. This combining of real historical events (the Jinyimei) with ridiculous over-the-top characters didn't work for me and I wish the director, Daniel Lee, had focused less on these stunts and more on the story and realistic fighting. Not a bad film, it lacks the depth and believable characters I look for in a great martial arts movie.