Guillotines

The Guillotines was sold as the modern day remake of the classic Master Of The Flying Guillotine!

The original was just fantastic. Action packed with amazing kung fu battles and gritty decapitations from the ultimate weapon.

With Andrew Lau's update, we are given a beautifully made drama, with small stylish fight scenes that focus more (with poor CGI) on how these new versions of the guillotine blades, work!

I think that, once you have accepted that this is in no way a remake of such a classic, and only features a bunch of pretty boys with cool weapons, you can enjoy it more and see it as a historical drama with some fun action sequences.

Worth the watch, just not perfect.

If you were or are a fan of Shaw Brothers eastern movies, the title itself may seem familiar. And while it has been a while since I saw the Guillotines movie they did back then, there are some throwbacks (visually, story and other wise). Having said that, this is an update and it feels like the CGI was made to explore 3D territory. I only watched it in 2D though so I can't say how good it is in 3D, even though as I said you can tell it might work.

There is violence though and there is massive story and a lot of characters. At times it may feel a bit convoluted. There is a lot to digest and not all might be clear at all times. Still visually this is really more than nicely made and the action/stunt sequences are good. If that is what you care most about you will have a good time. A love for B-movies and hero bloodshed also helps ...

When the trailers were released, it seemed that The Guillotines will be packed with action with the titular weapon. And with Andrew Lau at helm, what could go wrong? The fact that Andrew wants this to be more of a drama about brothers rather than a guilty pleasure is disappointing. But it is not that bad and this still has some value of entertainment.

The story: The movie starts off with a cool action scene with The Guillotines, a group, using the titular weapons against some 'bad guys'. After that, Wolf escapes from being executed. It leads to another action scene with the briefly appeared titular weapons. However that is all you see for the weapons in action. The Guillotines is tasked to find Wolf. Those waiting to see the weapons appearing again will be disappointed. There is plenty of action but the weapons are not featured in other than the first two action scenes. The climax is a huge disappointment. I thought the climax will the next action scene that will feature the weapons. The climax contains lots of explosions and that is about it. No epic fight scene. Acting wise is okay, not distracting.

Overall: It should not be called The Guillotines. It is one of those misleading title. Without the special titular weapon, this is just an ordinary action drama movie which feels over-long at times. It is not bad but it is a disappointment.

Just so you are under no illusion of the lethalness of a flying guillotine, a thrilling opening sequence sees the titular group of assassins under Emperor Qian Long's command using the feared weapon against a gang of rebels known as 'The Herders'. Dispatched from its wielder like a flying wheel, it locks around its target's neck, activating a volley of blades within capable of decapitating a head right off its body. It's not a pretty sight no doubt, but still a perfect precursor for what is lined up.

'The Guillotines' is not a pretty movie; rather, things look perpetually grimy and gloomy- much like the fate of the assassins led by Nala Leng (Ethan Juan). Plucked as orphans from a young age, they know no family but their own fellow comrades in arms. Then despite being the most formidable of the Emperor's soldiers, their status was never made official; lest the throne be accused of resorting to "dirty" methods to get rid of its enemies. And when the Emperor decides it is time for reformation, they are regarded as threats and hunted for dead.

In the hands of a lesser producer, such material might have been just the subject of another run of the mill big-budget period action blockbuster; but with Peter Chan on board, you can be sure that 'The Guillotines' will be so much more. And indeed you will not be disappointed, as Chan assembles some of his best screenwriters – Aubrey Lam ("Perhaps Love", "The Warlords" and "Wu Xia"), Joyce Chan ("Bodyguards and Assassins", "Wu Xia") and Jojo Hui ("The Warlords") – to pen a compelling story on power, leadership and loyalty.

Of the three, it is the last that gets most prominent play – not only are the Guillotines forced to re-evaluate their blind loyalty to the Emperor, their leader Leng is faced with an even bigger dilemma as he is made to choose between the brothers he has fought with and his childhood buddy and Imperial Agent Du (Shawn Yue) with whom he had sworn their allegiance with to the Emperor when they were mere children. Leng and his fellow agent Musen (Li Yuchun) are further challenged when their arch enemy Wolf (Huang Xiaoming) – the leader of the "Herders" – turns out to be much more than just an anarchist.

As bit by bit of each character's background and motivations are revealed, the viewer is challenged to put aside conventional archetypes of hero and villain, good and bad, right and wrong. Even as the movie begins with an action-oriented approach, director Andrew Lau adroitly adopts a much more elegant character-driven narrative towards the second half – and it is indeed an achievement when each character turns out to be more morally complex than we would have expected when we are first introduced to them.

Yet even while maintaining an intimate focus on the characters, Lau doesn't lose sight of the larger context against which the character struggles unfold. At the crux of the turmoil is the Emperor's thirst for power, the need to enslave the Han Chinese perceived to be antagonistic to his authoritarian rule. Then when the Emperor first sends the Guillotines and subsequently a whole regimen of fire-armed soldiers to quell the unrest and demand obedience, the film thrusts into prominence the consequences of a rule by force, even if it is meant to serve a greater purpose of unification. Right until an empathetic speech at the end on the importance of a rule founded on respect, the movie cleverly earns real-world relevance in its lessons on reform and revolution – especially given the recent leadership transition in Mainland China.

Such lofty ambitions rest on the shoulders of a young and fresh cast – thankfully, each perform at least adequately according to the demands of their respective roles. Up and coming Mainland actor Huang brings an appropriately rebellious yet grounded touch to Wolf; while Juan and Yue are well paired with each other as the "brothers" whose friendship is tested by their supposed unwavering loyalty to the Emperor. Li, who also sings the theme song, is surprisingly affecting as one of the Guillotines forced to re-assess everything she knows when she is taken hostage by Wolf. And with Peter Chan's assistance no doubt, the movie gets a nice boost from veteran actors Jimmy Wang Yu and King Shih-Chieh, who shine in their bit roles as the leader of the Guillotines and commander of the border Army respectively.

Compared to the excellent drama at play, the inevitable action sequences choreographed by veteran Lee Tat-Chiu seem to be merely perfunctory. Only two sequences – the first described at the start of this review and the second when Wolf's men conduct a daring ambush in broad daylight to rescue him – see the famed 'flying guillotine' deployed in its full glory, with the rest consisting mostly of some of the biggest explosions you've seen in Chinese cinema. That's not to say they aren't well done, but the most absorbing parts of the movie still belong to the character drama.

Considering the troubled production history behind the film – conceived first as a remake of the classic Shaw Brothers' film 'Master of the Flying Guillotine' and then losing first choice Teddy Chan as director – it's to both producer Peter Chan and director Andrew Lau's credit that the film is this outstanding. Deftly balancing complex character-driven drama with gripping action, Lau delivers one of his best and most challenging films since 'Infernal Affairs' – with Peter Chan proving once again that his Midas touch in films (whether as a producer or director) is still very much alive. Even though the Guillotines only lived as myth and were never officially recognised, this movie will go down as one of the finest examples of Chinese cinema this year.

Who watched and rated this movie? A bunch of Woody Allen fans? It deserves a better rating than the 4.6 I see today so I must add my two cents. This is a typical kung fu action movie and it delivers kung fu and action. Nothing I haven't seen before but all the stuff I want to keep on seeing. Is there anything that makes it anything more than an average kung fu action movie? No not really, but that still doesn't mean it's a waste of time or something to over criticize. What would have made it better? The running time was too long and there were not enough simple hand to hand or man versus man fights. Other than that, if you are a fan of this genre then ignore the criticism here and watch it.