Movielogr

The Guardsman (2011)

Directed by Jiao Xiao-Yu

Action | Eastern

Overview

When internal strife leads to a conspiracy to assassinate the emperor, it is up to a group of loyal warriors to protect the emperor and defend the kingdom.

Rated R | Length 94 minutes

Actors

Cheng Pei-Pei | Wu Ma | Yan Jie | Yuen Biao

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Date ViewedDeviceFormatSourceRating
05/23/2021TVDVDLibrary5 stars
 

Viewing Notes

aka The Guardsman (US DVD Title)

Fairly basic story (not so mysterious assassins are after the emperor) but done in such a way to make it very uninteresting and convoluted. Also shot like a television show, which is very odd esp. during the scene transitions (literally feels like it’s going to a commercial break). Of course the Japanese, particularly the lead henchman, are so over-the-top angry evil that it becomes cartoonish despite being a serious film (the Japanese dubbing is very stilted). There are some decent action beats which are really the only reason to view this but by the end I was already checking out due to the melodrama and weird television structure.

It’s like they wanted to make a Shaw Brothers flick with modern techniques but it just doesn’t work nor look good. No extras or bonus features on the DVD but I would’ve viewed any making-of featurette in hopes to learn why it was filmed in this manner.

Not sure why TMDb only lists 4 actors b/c there’s a huge cast in this.

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