Let’s just kick off with all you really need to know: if you want a fantastically choreographed action epic, Blades of the Guardians is for you. You can stop here and simply head out to the cinema right now.
Hitting cinemas during the February New Year holiday season, this offering from director Yuen Woo-ping is a love letter to good old-fashioned martial arts epics and the kind of movies that can pull multiple generations (aside from your youngest kids) into the cinema.
Adapted from the Chinese manhua Biao Ren, the film is set during the final years of the Sui dynasty and follows the mercenary Dao Ma (Wu Jing) and his mysterious young ward, Xiao Qi (Charles Ju). When he’s tasked with escorting the rebel leader Zhi Shi Lang, Dao Ma is forced to confront powerful enemies, making crucial alliances, defeat rival warriors, and take on some good old epic battles along the way.
Given that Woo-ping is best known as the choreographer behind Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Kill Bill series, The Matrix trilogy, and more, the action sequences are stunning. From three-way armed combat to battles in a sandstorm and more, if anything the story flows around the fight sequences as opposed to the other way around.
The original source material supports this in spades. Originally inspired by Westerns and Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, Blades of the Guardians follows in this proud tradition where the plot and moments of stillness balance will with the high-octane thrills and gasp-out-loud action. The personalities of each character are intricately woven into the choreography in a manner that emphasises each character’s fight for survival, as opposed to being spectacle for spectacle’s sake.
Whilst the list of prominent names involved in the film seems never-ending, Chen Lijun as Ayuya and Ci Sha as He Yixuan leap off the screen, chewing the scenery with every shot in a manner that makes you wish there were spin-off films about these two characters as well. Wu Jing as Dao Ma plays the ‘mysterious swordsman’ to fantastic effect: his restrained performance continually leaves audiences guessing, and only heightens the tension when it comes to guessing the grizzled old fighter’s next move.
The setting itself is also one of the film’s stars: expansive shots of dusty roads, barren deserts, and distant mountains emphasise the isolation and unforgiving environment that underscores of the characters’ journeys. For those who have missed the desolation to be found in the great wuxia, samurai or Western epics, this one’s for you.
A small let-down at the end is the clear signposting for a potential sequel. The arc of this movie wraps up so cleanly that – whilst we would not object to a sequel at all – dropping too many hints for what a subsequent movie might contain makes it feel more incomplete than the movie deserves. However, this is an issue to be found in many a modern film, and if anything may excite many viewers instead.
Overall, Blades of the Guardians is a fantastic action movie with some of the best fighting sequences you’ll have seen this year. With some fabulous standout acting performances and plenty of stunning choreography that will make you appreciate how far action movies have truly come, it’s certainly one to catch.
Blades of the Guardians is out in cinemas now.