Filmed in 2009, 14 Blades is an attempt by mainstream Asian cinema to give the Western genre a specifically Eastern flavor. While the film’s wuxia martial-arts action is far from the dueling gunplay portrayed in most Westerns—particularly those of the 1960’s and ‘70s—the influence with its emphasis on wide open spaces and largely ambiguous characters is unmistakable. Action is the order of the day, as director, co-writer and production designer Daniel Lee offers up a convoluted plot that doesn’t really go anywhere. To his credit, Lee keeps things moving very quickly, leaving little time to actually care about what’s going on.
Qinglong (Donnie Yen) is the leader of Jinyiwei, a kind of secret police for the current Emperor. All pf the members are masters of manipulating the so-called 14 blades of justice. Qinglong, however, finds himself a fugitive on the run after being framed in a conspiracy to steal the emperor’s imperial seal. Reminiscent of Clint Eastwood in A Man With No Name, Qinglong is impassive and a man of few words. Ne just goes out and does what’s needed. Not surprisingly, his stoic demeanor hides a troubled past. The forced fratricide of his brother in order to become a member of the Jinyiwei still haunts him. Looking for redemption, he vows to restore the emperor to power, with help from the contents of his weapons case—the “14 blades” of the title—and his own extensive training.
Along the way, Qinglong meets up with the Justice Escort Agency, takes its leader’s daughter Qiao Hua (Zhao Wei), hostage, crosses miles of rough terrain by horse, fends off evil henchmen and former Jinyiwei allies. Qinglong’s final battle will be toughest of his life. Can he survive and save his country from an undeserved fate?
Hong Kong’s top action star, Donnie Yen proved charismatic and fun in 2009’s Ip Man, unfortunately, the script doesn’t give him much to do here. The action is exciting and high energy, but when it stops even for a couple of minutes, it feels as if everything just dies until the next action beat. Even worse, 14 Blades doesn’t let Yen be Yen. The effects are overproduced you don’t get a real sense of Yen’s comedic abilities or his pure martial art skill. This isn’t an awful entry into the wuxia genre, but given the talent on hand it seems like a wasted opportunity.
Presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, the 14 Blades transfer has notable issues. The entire film looks strangely artificial throughout. While details look okay, things fail to look natural. Worse yet, the image suffers from frequent and thick edge halos that surround everything. Banding is also apparent in many shots. The first half of the film features a rather dreary color palette, dominated by shades of gray. The daytime scenes offer a bit more vibrancy, but nothing spectacular. On the whole, black levels are flat and everything, including the skin of the actors, has an artificial look.
14 Blades features a Mandarin language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Optional English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles are included. This is a loud track, bordering on excessive. It’s a mish mash of action effects and martial arts bedlam. The music too, is a heavy thumping presence, almost to the point of overkill. Generally, dialogue isnt an issue, but it does occasionally have a ‘dubbed’ sound. It seems to me, this could have been more evenly mixed for a more realistic and enjoyable listening experience.
There are no extras included on this disc.
