14 Blades 錦衣衛

As Green Dragon or Qin Long (青龍), he is leader of the 14 blades, a loyal band of secret assassins to a king during China's Ming Dynasty (明朝). A collective mix of sword play, magical battles, slow-motion gore, as well as a love struck damsel and a sprinkling of morality combine to form an amalgamation of death-defying sequences and high adrenaline entertainment.

Qin Long is the General-in-chief of the band of assassins, called the Jin Yi Wei (錦衣衛), whose unquestioning loyalty to their king means they are easily manipulated. The opening sequences introduce the royal family and the palace of evil eunuchs hell-bent on their own agenda. The 14 are sent on a mission to obtain something of great importance, though nothing is as it seems …

The director, Daniel Lee (李仁港), who won international acclaim two years ago with “Three Kingdoms — Resurrection of the Dragon” (三國之見龍卸甲), manages to create an action film conveying more than just battle sequences, in which he carefully explores the characters through visuals, comments and reactions to certain events.

In the mix he creates a combination of Wuxia (武俠) styled plot, with questionable good guys and not so evil bad guys. The battles — often taking place against versatile backdrops, such as tea rooms and deserts, make for entertaining viewing. Lee even has time to throw into the mix an unusual romance between the damsel and her captor.

Donnie Yen is a talented actor, and his persona in this flick is both intriguing and admirable, despite being the bad guy. His relationship with the perhaps not so attractive damsel-turned-heroine, Wei Zhao (趙薇) as Qiao Hua (喬花), is a memorable one, and the character he plays suits the role perfectly.

His ability to say little yet deliver much is tantamount to his skill as an actor. Perhaps his most interesting foe is Tuo Tuo (脫脫) played by Kate Tsui (徐子珊), whose surreal fighting style is more magical and surprising than any other. Instead of being death defying, brutal and destructive like most assassins, she floats, and dances and twirls.

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