The Lost Bladesman
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Betty Sun
Director: Alan Mak, Felix Chong
Historical martial arts meets epic battles in this drama from Hong Kong.
Donnie Yen stars as Guan Yu in this film which is based on historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Separated from his brother, Guan is forced to fight against him to save their mutual love by emperor Cao Cao, who appears to support Guan but is anything but supportive underneath.
The Lost Bladesman begins serenely before kicking some serious butt.
The mystical opening and flashbacks to the stony faced Donnie Yen make an intriguing combination and before you know it, we're in martial arts fighting territory. But it does subvert your expectations for a film such as this - while there's the historical element which will appeal to some, and the tenderness of the relationships (as well as the consequences of the choices made by Guan), there's some seriously impressive fight scenes to keep fans of the genre entertained.
Ip Men's Yen works well as the lead - and his work during the fight scenes is nothing to be scoffed at all.
And it's stylishly done too - from the scene of one warrior
being cut down by a spear thrown from a distance to a mightily
impressive beheading which is seen from the viewpoint of the
warrior losing his head, it's a heavily choreographed epic film
which will appeal markedly to some rather than others.
