127 minutes, Currently showing in theaters
★★★★☆
story: Wandering swordsman Dao Ma (Chinese actor Wu Jing) travels through the western wilderness, catching wanted men and collecting bounties. The generals and rebels seek his help in the fight against the cruel Sui officials, but he refuses. lie He is so low that he can protect the children under his charge. His friend, tribal leader Lao Mo (Tony Leung Ka-fai), gives him a mission. The task is to escort a mysterious, wanted, masked scientist to the city of Chang’an, accompanied by his daughter, Ayuya (Chen Lijun), a fearsome archer. It’s not long before the riders are attacked by bandits, bounty hunters, and a swordsman named Diting (Nicholas Tse), who holds a strange grudge against Dao Ma.
As befits a Lunar New Year movie, this martial arts epic is a multigenerational effort, bringing together stars who debuted in the 1980s (Leung and Jet Li) to actors who could be their grandchildren, such as China’s Liu Yaowen, a 20-year-old member of the boy band Teens in Times.
Tony Leung Ka-fai in “Blade of the Guardians.”
Photo: Show Organization
If Blades of the Guardians were a reunion dinner, the head of the family would have to be director Yuen Woo-ping, 80. The Guangzhou-born filmmaker and action choreographer is best known in the West for his fight coordination work on Hollywood productions such as The Matrix trilogy (1999-2003) and Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2 (2003 and 2004).
But in China and Hong Kong, Yuen has been active in action films since the early 1970s and is a well-respected figure. The depth of that experience shines through in this film adaptation of the hit manga Biao Ren, first published in 2015.
Imagine the dynastic politics and honor code of the HBO fantasy series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026) married to Clint Eastwood. neo western It’s the story of a cynical gunman who takes on a corrupt mayor, and you can feel the tone and theme of the film.
Woo Jin from Blade of the Guardians.
Photo: Show Organization
Yuen avoids too many computer-generated images that spoil too many grandiose fantasies. Nothing feels weightless. The story is based on the frontier chaos of the Sui Dynasty. Of course, the characters are dressed in appropriate fantasy costumes and made to feel like they belong there, even in the dust and heat. The battle scenes in the sandstorm are exciting and imaginative.
The battles are thrillingly bloody. A sword wielded by a fighter does the same thing that a sharp metal object does to soft flesh. There are nods to the wuxia tradition, some lighter-than-air kungfu, but none of the ballet grace of another of Yuen’s choreographed works, the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
Dao Ma is surrounded by countless supporting characters, including the villainous imperial official Zhang (Li), who makes a rare appearance in what appears to be an extended cameo.
Jet Li in “Blade of the Guardians”.
Photo: Show Organization
Yuen does what he can to cram into the manga’s vast list of ideas and characters, but there’s little character development here, and the wolf-cub dynamic between Dao Ma and the cubs remains unexplored and poorly explained.
Despite this, Blades of the Guardians is still a thrilling watch, sticking to its wuxia tradition while adding fresh updates.
Featured takes: It’s elevated by Yuen’s masterful action choreography, but hampered by an overcrowded cast that leaves the characters’ relationships frustratingly underdeveloped.