China, the late Ming Dynasty: Shen (Chang Chen), Lu (Wang Qianyuan) and Yichuan (Ethan Li) are bloodbrothers and at the very top of the Imperial assassins, at a time when the Empire is threatened, and by none more so but eunuch Wei (Chin Shi-Chieh), and since all three are in desperate need of more money - Shen to buy out prostitute Miaotong (Liu Shi Shi), a woman he feels responsible for, Lu to bribe his superiors into promoting him, Yichuan to blackmail his former student (Zhou Yiwei) to not give away a terrible secret about his past -, they volunteer to lead a raid to Wei's castle ... and notice too late that they have been tricked by their associates and been led into a death trap - which they manage to escape. But now they are caught between loyalty to the Emperor, their associates who want to get rid of them, and eunuch Wei, who offers a hefty sum to everyone who'll save his life - and this can only result in much bloodshed ...

Now one thing has to be said up front: This film doesn't exactly break ground in any way, the story, as confusing as it might be (and it is very confusing) only uses familiar elements of the rich tradition of period martial arts dramas/historicals, and has certainly been told better, the action might be breakneck and expertly staged, but one has certainly seen better, and the visuals are nice and atmospheric to boot, but not exactly visionary or at least inventive. That said, Brotherhood of Blades is by no means a shipwreck, far from it, it's extremely fast-moving and action rich, and while the story's confusing, one at least gets a clear feel for what's going on. Basically a fun watch, but probably a film that doesn't stay with one for long.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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