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Cast: Huang Xiaoming, Ethan Juan, Li Yuchun
It is the deadliest weapon made by man. The mere mention of its name fills hearts with terror. Long shrouded in mystery, it launches from a distance and locks onto the target’s head, the internal blades decapitating the victim with the yank of a chain. A weapon of choice for elite fighters, the flying guillotine leaves victims begging for mercy.
A secret brotherhood of assassins – known only as The Guillotines – were once favored by the Emperor, but are now a force of terror and oppression under a new regime. Exiled to a remote village and hunted by a squad of fighters with firearms that challenge their cold steel, The Guillotines must now outwit and outfight enemies from both sides.
When watching the trailer of "The Guillotines" so expect a film with endless amount of action but it never really lives up to that promise. The first 25 minutes or so of the film is all action as it sets up the story and shows how the Guillotines work which is pretty cool. After that the film slows and it switches its focus to the brotherhood themselves. Now this is not a bad thing because as much as I love action and special effects I still like a story to go along with them as well. Director, Andrew Lau is known for his ability to not only create great action scenes but he is also at master at story-telling and he again succeeds here.
The action scenes are very well done, they are fast and exciting and I loved how the guillotines worked. Some of the effects may not be up to Hollywood standards but you have to remember that this doesn't have a Hollywood budget either but over-all like most Asian films it looks better than most of what Hollywood produces. Story wise it is actually pretty simple but the characters are well-written and developed enough for you to get some sort of feelings towards them.
If you are expecting an all out action film here you are going to be disappointed, perhaps the trailer was a bit misleading but none the less this is a solid drama about power and loyalty with a nice amount of action tossed in. The biggest problem I found with the film was its run time, it could of been trimmed down some to give it a bit better pace but other than that I enjoyed the film for what it was. Available on DVD and Blu-ray with Special Features that include:
Original Language: Mandarin
Dubbed Language: English
Subtitle: English
Extra: Making of, Interviews with Cast & Crew
You can order the DVD HERE and the Blu-ray HERE.
I enjoyed the film and liked both the action and the drama, the story kept me engaged and the action was full of excitement so if you like Asian cinema I recommend checking it out.
Released by Well Go USA
*** 1/2 Out Of *****