Sometimes going into a film not knowing anything is quite a good idea and that was the case with Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert. Directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, the story tells of Dao Ma (Wu Jing) as the ‘second most wanted fugitive’ takes the ‘most wanted fugitive’ to Chang’an along with his nephew. To be honest this was a mystery screening in all but name but what wasn't a mystery was the plot which took a while to really get going but that wasn't what made me a fan.
I’m not going to wait until the end of the review to say that this is my film of the year so far, which isn’t what I was expecting when I sat down in the cinema. The main reason for me liking this film so much are the fight scenes. I have seen plenty of martial arts films but this manages to take it up a notch. They were amazing and so well choreographed. There was one moment where Dao Ma knocks someone’s head off with a sweeping kick. The film did not shy away from the blood with limbs being cut off and it makes me think that Quentin Tarantino would be a fan of this.
There are only two real issues with the film. The first was that I was worried about the horses. Some of those takedowns looked really tough and I hope that someone checked to see if the horses were harmed. I doubt the BBFC would have given this film a certificate if there was actual animal cruelty. I know the film says that no animals were harmed in the making of the film but it wouldn’t be the first time that a film or TV show has lied. The other issue is that there are too many characters in the film and the end result is that they don't get much screen time and so when they inevitably die then there is little reason to feel much towards them.
The landscape might have been just sang for most of it but it was still stunning. Peter Pau deserves a lot of credit for managing to make this dull landscape look so cinematic. Hats off to the set designer. There wasn’t a bad or mediocre set. Everything looked so good and there were a couple of sets (especially at the beginning) where I could have spent more time there.Another hats off must go to the costume designers. This was truly impressive and to some they might not look to spectacular they looked so good to me
The score was amazing and the song at the end was great. Steffens Thum had a great time with this and the song at the end was so good and it was a shame that it was used at the end although it was perhaps the only appropriate place it could go.
Despite the long title, this has to be my favourite film of the year and one of my favourite non English language films I have seen since Parasite. There is a sequel bait bit at the end but I wouldn’t mind watching more.
No comments:
Post a Comment