...being a devoted fan of martial arts cinema...from '70's old-school chop socky...to slick, action-driven, dramatically infused modern period pieces...this viewer often found himself particularly drawn to the quite imaginative, dynamic and exotic, albeit quite deadly weaponry, sometimes even more so than the prerequisite and choreographed hand-to-hand combat, in these films. The more exotic and constructively practical the weapon was, the more this viewer felt compelled to study it's historic use even further, even going as far as to verify whether or not the weapon was genuinely used by ancient warriors past, or was merely the imaginative product of the writers and filmmakers. Such was the case with the dreaded 'xuedizi'...a term literally translating into 'blood dripper', but to fans of chop socky cinema, this device was better known as the 'flying guillotine'. Amazingly enough, ancient history reveals that during the Quig Dynasty, covering a large era of time, from 1644 to 1912, the flying guillotine was indeed reportedly used by skilled Tibetan assassins...a skill which clearly involved amazingly keen and sightful precision (...the movies tend to make use of this weapon, look soooooo easy). The jaw-dropping level of dynamics, with regards to early martial arts films, was invariably raised, with the inclusion of this deadly and gruesome piece of precision weaponry, with the classic 1976 martial arts epic, "Masters of the Flying Guillotine", being the most famous, in featuring the fatal head-chopping tool. As visually compelling as the weapon was, it genuinely surprises most fans of martial arts cinema, that the flying guillotine wasn't utilized more in the movies; that disregard might well have seen long-overdue cessation, with the recent 're-invention' of the fatal bladed weapon, in 2012's visually striking, albeit heavily dramatic, and overly muddled martial arts epic, "The Guillotines"...
...in a strategy not that far removed from burning the candle at both ends, the Emperor Yong Zheng routinely dispatches his well-armed and well-skilled team of deadly 'guillotines', to 'cleanse' the surrounding lands of rebellious dissidents...invoking a dark episode of the reigning dynasty, which the Emperor's son, Qain Long, wishes to blot from history, once he assumes rule, by way of not merely justifying the wiping out of the same rebellious forces, but inclusively, through the preferred use of much more modern...much more destructive weaponry, like guns and cannons. In the midst of this rebel purging, three opposing elements...once 'brothers' in youth, now of different worlds...different views, and locking horns with each other. Du and Leng, having both assumed the honored positions as imperial agents and part of the elite & highly skilled 'guillotine' forces, quibble and debate over opposing views on how the rebel dissidents should be dealt with as well as whether or not to question the motives and orders of the reigning royal superiors; the third 'brother', Wolf, having since become the gruff lead instigator of the rebel forces, known as Herders...and as such, targeted by those whom he had once called 'brothers'...rally an ever increasing population of oppressed, aleit devoted supporters, dedicated to the cause of freedom and peaceful existence. Complicating matters, as these grappling elements converge, the daughter of the 'guillotine' forces' chief, and a respectably determined member of the group, herself, gets captured by Wolf's rebel forces...and it is discovered that the Emperor's son has underliningly instigated plans to eliminate the famed and feared Guillotines (...while at the same time, using them for his own self-serving purpose), in favor of modern weaponry. As the result...honor, loyalty and brotherhood become invariably tested, fatefully setting the stage for invariably tumultuous and explosively cataclysmic death & destruction...
...now, in shotgunning from the hip, the first critical word which comes to this viewer's mind, in looking back on this film.....balance, Balance, BALANCE!!! Coming from the director of some of my favorite contemporary rendered, martial arts fantasy and epic period pieces, Mr. Andrew Lau...including 1998's "Storm Riders", 2000's "The Duel" and 1999's "A Man Called Hero"...not to mention, such notables as 1993's "Raped by an Angel", 1999's "The Legend of Speed", 2010's "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen", the 'Infernal Affairs' trilogy, and the 'Young and Dangerous' multi-film franchise...this viewer could not help but assume the usual high expectations, when it came to something as dynamic as the suggested "Guillotines". After all, in the onset, the film seemed to have the best of all worlds: One of the most gruesomely exotic weapons in the annuls of martial arts, that of course, being the 'flying guillotine' (...for this film, re-imagined via CGI for maximum dynamics, in the sense that the weapon no longer resembles the traditional chained, crown-like basketed and lethal-bladed ring, which is thrown at it's intended target for decapitation...now much more resembling a sword-like blade, which 'transforms' into what looks like a Jai Alai bat, or xistera, from which the deadly ring is spinningly cradled, and then launched from)...The high drama, typically involving family, or in this case, 'brothers', having grown up together, and later, are forced to assume different lives, sometimes engaging different moralities and values, away from each other, until such day, they are forced to confront each other, each with a conflicting sense of honor, compassion, conviction and loyalty at stake...And for a film like this, there's the expected 'ballet' of choreographed, hand-to-hand martial arts grappling, in a display or test of one's physical prowess...
...as epically sweeping, visually striking and dramatically engaging as this film assuredly is, it's the mis-measured balance of these attributes, where this slick and atmospheric piece of martial arts epic-ness falters into something which might well have viewers assuming a stance of '...ah well...been there, done that'. Could this be the result of the film having...whoa, not one...not two...but SIX writers, whose combined contributions might well have the same level of conflicting intent, as the bickering protagonists in the film?? Right out the gate, there's the dangerous elegance of the dynamically showcased weapon itself; now relegated to sensory activated, heavy metal Rube Goldberg, clockwork sprocket-like CGI, in it's depiction, the overall effect might be wow-inducing, but in an underlining way, it makes an already incredulously wielded piece of weaponry, even more incredulous...almost as if it takes superhuman effort...even more so than what the realm of martial arts might suggest...to adeptly and accurately wield. Then, there's the 'high drama'...oh, the high drama, which there is so much a preponderance of, it might well have viewers impatiently checking their watches; don't get this viewer wrong...the compelling dramatics in the best of these martial arts epics is what endears the viewers to the characters being rendered, and gives one a breather, in between the action moments. However, when the drama is too preponderant, too heavy handed, or 'been there, done that' repetitive, storywise, to the point where the viewers might get bored, or worse, feel manipulated...well, that's when most might look for that fast-forward button on the remote. And as much as the scenes of combat involving the use of the flying guillotines prove visually striking, there is little hand-to-hand combat shown herein...and the little shown, is photographed very fleeting and disproportionate, without the sense of eloquent and spansive, ballet-like choreography, which such combat, at least as depicted in films, is known for. In the final analysis, at least in the case of this film, despite it's explosive finale, it proves merely a matter of 'nothing really new ventured, nothing really new gained'...
...that's not to say that the cast is not up to the task of the material set forth before them; in fact, although they themselves can't help but assume equal guilt of the overly high-dramatics, by virtue of the 'page to performance' of each, the good thing here is that the performers genuinely and compellingly manage to make the characters their own. Actor Xiaoming Huang probably stands out the foremost in these proceedings, in donning the gruff, seemingly messianic character of Wolf...a brave and honorable character, fatefully driven to guide his people out of turmoil and misery...and destined to martyrdom, in ultimately sacrificing himself. Shawn Yue (...one of the more experienced and seasoned performers, here, with 2005's "Dragon Squad", 2010's "Legend of the Fist", and the 'Infernal Affairs' films, amongst others, under his belt) and Ethan Wan, as Du and Leng, respectfully, prove adequate, if not overly brooding and emotional, in their depiction of fellow comrades, with different and opposing views on honor, respect, love, friendship, brotherhood and overall humanity. And in an outright surprise performance, veteran actor Jimmy Wang Yu (...whose honored film repertoire, going back to the '60's, is quite literally without peers) appears here as the senior head of the Guillotines squad...
...'oh wow' action, then ya da-da, ya da-da, ya da-da, ya da-da, ya da-da dramatics...then, some more 'oh wow' action, followed by more ya da-da, ya da-da, ya da-da, ya da-da, ya da-da (...check your watch, now)...then, some more 'oh wow' action, followed by more ya da-da, ya da-da, ya da-da, ya da-da, ya da-da (...watch check, again)...then, some...well, by now, you get the picture. In short, this one's pretty good, just not as good as it could have been, given some discipline in the writing and direction. The film does takes some patience to get through...and in the end, despite the 'flash', you've probably seen it all before...Nothing really new here (...except, of course, the dynamic way that the famed 'flying guillotine' is depicted and wielded); as this viewer said before, "...eh, been there...seen that..."....
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