Movies don’t have to be masterpieces to be entertaining, something that I think the field of film criticism only really started taking into account in the last 20 years or so. Obviously, artistic merit and intent should be taken into consideration when trying to review a film, but other factors need to be considered. Did the movie do what it set it out to do (and what exactly was that)? Did it do it well? Was it unique? And perhaps most importantly, did I enjoy myself and do I think others would too? Director Liu Wenpu’s wuxia action drama The Butcher’s Blade is no masterpiece, but I do think it was made with a clear set of goals in mind and mostly nailed each of them. And best of all, it is undeniably fun to watch.
Xue Buyi (Liu Fengchao) is an honest but timid lawman in a small Chinese city. Corruption runs rampant around him, and he does his best to try and bring wrongdoers to justice but is thwarted at every turn by those in power. He finally gets an assignment that he thinks means he is being taken seriously, only to find himself instead being framed for the theft of money intended to aid the victims of recent floods. When his one-time master, a higher ranking national official, arrives on the scene and rescues him, he finds himself tasked with working to unravel the rot at the local government’s core, but of course, nothing is ever simple and he begins to wonder if he can truly trust anyone.
The plot is perhaps a bit overstuffed, especially for the film’s fleet 90-minute runtime, but the most important beats are easy enough to follow and all the extraneous information—like the lightning quick info dump of arcane legal information during the opening credits—can be safely ignored. It’s all really only there to move us from one creatively staged martial arts action scene to another, and while they are sometimes a bit too chaotically edited, they are the real highlights here. With clever utilization of locations and some truly impressive choreography, genre fans will find The Butcher’s Blade to be a worthwhile experience on the strength of them alone.
Liu Fengchao is compelling as the lead, easily commanding the viewer’s gaze. The performers around him are equally good, even if their characters sometimes border on camp, but this is truly Liu’s movie through and through.
There are a few other issues with the film, most notably the way it at times rests on a knife’s edge of becoming pro-police-brutality propaganda. Additionally, the many baddies are almost cartoonishly evil, though that does make their inevitable comeuppance all the more satisfying to see.
This is a genre that is certainly capable of telling epic, meaningful stories, but it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes all we want out of a movie is a flurry of kicks, chops, punches, and slices and The Butcher’s Blade gives us a flurry of those. It’s an exciting ride, best enjoyed with popcorn and a few friends. ★★★
not rated. contains strong bloody violence and injury detail.
★★★★★ = Excellent | ★★★★ = Very Good | ★★★ = Good | ★★ = Fair | ★ = Poor
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