Movie Review: 14 Blades By Loong Wai Ting on 07 Feb 2010 at 2:21pm (新闻&图片 News & Photos)

by Wee (泰国), Monday, February 08, 2010, 22:52:20 @ Wee
      

A quick check on movie forums on the internet reveals that there are some parties somewhere in the cyberspace, who either agree or disagree that Director Daniel Lee isn’t a very good story-teller and that his films reveal nothing but patchy storyline. And, though I think he did an amazing job in “Three Kingdom” (couldn’t blame me as I love watching Chinese epic films), bringing out certain emotional timbre and whatnot, “14 Blades” on the other hand lacks the engaging must-have tear duct squeezing moment and most importantly strong plot. Instead, “14 Blades” is about exotic locations, elaborate costumes and fancy weaponry, which is carried around like an oversize Cadbury chocolate box.

If previously Vicky Zhao Wei was spotted walking directly from “Red Cliff’s” set into “Mulan’s,” this time she is seen trading her heavy swords and manly demeanour for a character very much like the traditional strong and resilient woman behind every successful man in this latest action martial arts flick. In “14 Blades,” she looks so attractive that a fellow friend of mine couldn’t stop but saying “She’s just… cute” over and over again. Muscleman, Donnie Yen and Wu Chun of Taiwan pop group, Fahrenheit isn’t too shabby looking either, especially with Donnie Yen’s well tone and buff up body and Wu’s countable block of abs.

While most of the time the story seems to join from one end to another, revealing loopholes in between, there are many moments in “14 Blades” that could have been better made, revealing lesser “chicken skin” dialogues and spewing immature emotions. What “14 Blades” lacks here is the essential character build up, which should invite every viewer to look into the life of the character.

There’s a lot of experimental camerawork, though. For example, much to the director’s favourite most of the outdoor opening scenes were shot with a 45 degree angle camera tilt, which gives the sense to the viewers that they are actually out in the desert experiencing the real deal. That aside, the cinematography is something worth applauding. What audiences can expect to see is a wide spectrum of colours combination, rule of third shooting style and of course making use of the nature’s surrounding to the films’ advantage.

While there are moments in which Kate Tsui floats around effortlessly (with special effects, of course) to illustrate her amazing kung fu skills, Donnie Yen it seems lack some of the worthy opponents to do choreographed fight scenes with. Most of the actors here are either from a dance background or none at all, and to make it look as real as possible, fast editing technique can be seen used up quite a lot. The fast editing part makes as though the fight scene appear to be very fuzzy looking. Sorry, but it looks like “14 Blades” got “chopped” by bad editing. No pun intended.

All in all, “14 Blades” is pack with a little something for all the masses. For fans of wuxia films, 11th February might just be your lucky day. For fans of Wu Chun, Vicky Zhao and Donnie Yen, just go grab yourself some popcorn and drool over their performances. You would not be disappointed.

http://voize.my/movies/movie-review-14-blades