Wandering swordsman Dao Ma (Chinese actor Wu Jing) travels the Western wastelands, pocketing rewards for capturing wanted men. Warlords and rebels seek his services in their fight against cruel Sui Dynasty officials, but he refuses, choosing to lie low so he can protect a child under his charge.
His friend, tribal leader Lao Mo (Tony Leung Ka Fai), gives him a mission: Escort a mysterious masked scholar – a wanted man – to the city of Changan accompanied by his daughter, the deadly archer Ayuya (Chen Lijun). It is not long before the riders are beset by bandits, bounty hunters and Diting (Nicholas Tse), a swordsman holding a strange grudge against Dao Ma.
This wuxia epic is, fittingly for a Chinese New Year film, a multi-generational effort bringing together stars launched in the 1980s (Leung and Jet Li) with actors who could be their grandchildren, such as China’s Liu Yaowen, a 20-year-old member of boy band Teens In Times.
If Blades Of The Guardians were a reunion dinner, then the patriarch must be director Yuen Woo Ping, 80. The Guangzhou-born film-maker and action choreographer is best known in the West for his fight coordination work in Hollywood productions such as The Matrix trilogy (1999 to 2003) and Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 (2003 and 2004).
But in China and Hong Kong, Yuen is a revered figure, active in action productions since the early 1970s. That depth of experience shines through in this adaptation of the hit manhua (Chinese comic) Biao Ren, first published in 2015.
Imagine the dynastic politics and codes of honour of the HBO fantasy series A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms (2026) married with a Clint Eastwood neo-western about a cynical gunslinger facing down a corrupt mayor, and one will get a feel of this movie’s tone and themes.
Yuen avoids the over-the-top computer-generated imagery ruining too many epic fantasies. Nothing feels weightless. The story is grounded in the chaos of the Sui Dynasty’s frontiers. The characters are made to feel like they belong there – in the dust and heat – with the appropriate fantasy costuming, of course. A battle scene set in a sandstorm is exciting and wonderfully imaginative.
While there are nods to the wuxia tradition – there is some lighter-than-air gongfu shown – none has the balletic elegance of the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), another of Yuen’s choreography credits.
Surrounding Dao Ma are too many supporting characters to count, including villainous imperial official Chang (Li), making a rare appearance in what might be considered an extended cameo.
The film is elevated by Yuen’s masterful action choreography, but hampered by an overcrowded cast that leaves character relationships frustratingly underdeveloped.
Despite this, Blades Of The Guardians remains a thrilling watch, one that sticks to wuxia tradition while giving it a fresh update. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
Summary:
A thrilling watch, one that sticks to wuxia tradition while giving it a fresh update.
