1
0
It’s sad that this latest generation has never fully realized just how significant a contribution that Jet Li made to martial arts action cinema. Li is a legit living legend and icon and sadly has been pseudo-retired over the last decade or so due to health issues. The man is named Jet for god’s sake so that tells you how sick he was with his skills and how fast he was when delivering the bone crunching goodness. Sure, he has graced cinema screens with roles in League of Gods and most recently Disney’s live action Mulan in 2020, but Li hasn’t truly let loose in a film since Badges of Fury in 2013 and Expendables 3 in 2014 and those did not do the man justice.
Ladies and gentlemen, Jet Li has returned and even though he isn’t balletically ballistic like he was back in his heyday, it’s still nothing short of spectacular to see him featured in a period WUXIA film and one directed by another martial arts action icon in filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping. The film is called Blades of Guardians and Li is mixing it up with the likes of Wu Jing (the Wolf Warrior films) and Nicholas Tse of Raging Fire and Customs Frontline. At this point, I miss Jet Li so much that I would take him simply standing there for ninety minutes as he simply elevates any film he is in whether he’s kicking ass and taking names are delivering a monologue.
Yuen Woo-ping’s latest tasty offering is called Blades of the Guardians which is based on the Chinese comic book, and it showcases all the insane, gravity defying, jaw dropping, ludicrous action set pieces that one would expect from these types of killer action pics. If anything, WUXIA films always show off inventive and creative ways to let loose with a bow and arrow and this film is no exception. Partake in the teaser video courtesy of our friends at Asian Film Fans!
The official plot reads: Dao Ma, the “second most wanted fugitive,” who is entrusted by his benefactor, the chief of Mo family clan, to take on a mysterious escort mission-escorting the “most wanted fugitive,” to Chang’an.
Joining Tse and Li is an all-out star-studded cast including Yu Rongguang (New Police Story), Tony Leung Ka-fai who was fantastic in the recent The Shadow’s Edge with Jackie Chan, Max Zhang (Wolf Pack) and Kara Hui (Sakra).
The teaser is loaded with enough blistering, pulverizing Wire Fu and expertly choreographed empty handed and bladed weaponry combat to fill two films. Wu Jing is certainly an underrated international action star and to see him kick it here is fantastic. The battles scenes look epic and grand in their scale, and the action design looks brutal, bloody and beautiful all at the same time.
As of now, Blade of the Guardians is set to hit Chinese theaters when the Chinese New Year in 2026 so keep it locked ‘n loaded right here for more acquisition details and release intel!
