THE EMPEROR’S SWORD – Review

THE EMPEROR’S SWORD is a Chinese period action drama opening with a huge battle that results in China being unified under a single monarch for the first time. The goal was to create a peace that would endure for generations. The eponymous weapon was considered so powerful, that it was re-forged into a pair. One stayed with the emperor. The other was sent far away with trusted General Meng to keep anyone from getting both and usurping the new regime. Great plan. For about a decade.

Then the good emperor dies. An underling kills the rest of the family and dispatches hordes of minions to re-take the other sword half. General Meng’s daughter escapes with the item, and for the rest of the movie we watch her being chased by lots of baddies, helped along the way by a handful of heroes, including her dad’s former disciples, reluctantly wrenched from their idyllic 10-year retirements on account of this treachery.

That plot is fairly common among historical Asian action fare, so the distinguishing element here is a matter of style. Director Zhang Yingli plays it soft on the gore, opting for a more lyrical, aesthetic approach to the heroics and high body count. Think CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON without the romance, as opposed to the high-octane thrills from adrenaline pumpers like most of the work from a Jet Li or Donnie Yen. Much of the bloodshed occurs in slow motion, backed by a complementary score, making those scenes more elegant than visceral. That’s not only true for the swordplay, but for several masterfully-framed sequences involving archers.

Western viewers should play close attention to the quiet parts, since the characters and time sequence might otherwise become rather confusing, especially due to several flashbacks interspersed with current proceedings. Those accustomed to the fast-paced, high energy segment of the genre that’s dominated since the Hong Kong fare of the 1970s will need to scale down expectations for this relatively quiet production, that embraces viewers with less tolerance for explicit gore. Even so, THE EMPEROR’S SWORD still delivers plenty of epic-level CGI moments and a fair bit of wire work. Several particularly well-choreographed fight sequences justify checking this one out purely on their own merits.

THE EMPEROR’S SWORD, in Mandarin with English subtitles, will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital on Nov. 9.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars