Brotherhood of Blades (2014)

[Drunk Monk]

I don't know why this has sat unwatched in my Netflix queue for so long. It's got 'brotherhood ' and 'blades' in the title.  Got to be a winner, right? Well, it is. Another modern wuxia - sumptuous sets, gorgeous costumes, panoramic cinematography, soap opera intrigue but instead of everyone sleeping around, everyone's got each other's blood on their hands. Just enough plot to build to a fine finale of sanguinosity. But let's cut to the chase. It's all about the blades. Sword fights a plenty. Decent ones too. Heavy on the digital blood and 1-shot/1-cut, but still very engaging. There's even a swept-hilt wielding sword hottie. Chop, slice and stab. My kinda flick. DOOM recommended especially for those in the brotherhood who like blades. 

I finally got around to this because they just announced a sequel is in production, but this ends like a classic wuxia, so that'll be tough to pick it up where it left off.

[Drunk Monk]

Meant to post this in Doom DVDs and Downloads


Can't always see what I'm doing when posting from my iPhone...

[Drunk Monk]

About that sequel, first I must confess I remember very little about BoB 1 beyond that saber swordswoman, and I had to re-read that here to remind myself. This is more of the same - twisty overly complex tale of intrigue parsed by superheroic swordfights. Everyone packs a cold arm, mostly swords, but also a spiky bag and a flaming meteor hammer. Still 1-action /1-cut choreography, but entertaining like a manga. It’s like Chinese knights in armor. Costumes, sets and locations are still gorgeous, specially if you like deep greens, purples and teal. The weapons are pretty and solid looking. DOOM recommended. I think I liked this one better than part 1, but that may just be recency effect.

Someone sent me copies for our sweepstakes but I don’t know who. No one from wellgo or any of the promo reps reached out to me. They sent me Reset too. I’ll queue them but it’s weird because I don’t know who to check in with on this. I’m already booked for 2 months. It’s CNY promos.

[Drunk Monk]

For the record, PII is the prequel. But I can't remember enough about PI to get the connection.  Nor do I really care that much.  It had amusing swordfights, and that's enough for me.  Honestly, that's all I really ask from a film.