14 Blades

"During the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor of China possessed one weapon greater than all others, the Imperial Guards, an elite force of assassins recruited from street orphans. Trained in clandestine combat from childhood, the Imperial Guards were masters of the 14 Blades, eight being for torture, five for killing and the last blade reserved for suicide when a mission failed. Above the law, with a license to kill, the Imperial Guards devoted their lives to the service of the Emperor alone. When the Imperial Court is taken over by evil eunuch Jia, the best of the Imperial Guards, Qinglong (Donnie Yen) and Xuanwu, are assigned to steal a list identifying those still loyal to the Emperor. However unbeknownst to Qinglong, the Imperial Guards have fallen under the control of Jia, and during the mission Qinglong is betrayed by Xuanwu. Now as the most wanted man in the land, Qinglong must seek out and rally the loyalists to rise against Jia and restore the Emperor to power (Synopsis: MSN Singapore Entertainment)."

The plot is average and predictable. I love the weapon box that Donnie Yen was carrying around his back. Inside the box, different blades for different purpose and this is amazing. Besides Donnie Yen’s great action performance, he was good in some romance scenes this time round. I was very surprised Wu Chun has good acting skills and action in his first big screen. As for the popular Hong Kong TVB actor “Kate Tsui” who played the evil role “Tuo Tuo”, her performance was impressive as well. One thing I don’t understand is there are so many good female actors in the film industry, why the producer wants to choose Zhao Wei as the female lead of the film. I guess perhaps they want a bigger share in the China market. Lastly, nothing much to compliment about the performance of Qi Yu Wu as I think his acting skills is average. Overall, this is a must see movie and I highly highly recommend it and my movie rating is 4/5.