14 Blades (2010) Movie Review
Of all the period action movies that the Chinese are cranking out lately, “14 Blades” is the one I’ve been anticipating the most. It stars Donnie Yen in his usual Donnie Yen role – a tough-as-nails martial arts fighter with few if any equals. Set in Ancient China, the film has Yen playing Qinglong, the leader of the Jinyi Wei, a sort of commando squad/assassins guild that works on the behalf of the Chinese emperor. Members of the Jinyi Wei are highly skilled warriors trained to kill for the Imperial court since they were small boys abducted off the streets. As the head of the Jinyi Wei, it is Qinglong’s duty to haul around a wooden box roughly the size and length of a guitar case, except instead of a guitar, the box is tricked out with all sorts of groovy machines, including grappling hooks and, yes, the titular 14 blades. How a single man can lug around the box [...]