The Guillotines

The Guillotines
Very good storyline, typical chinese movie where the the hero dies. I enjoyed it all even while taking an intermission.

Not What I Expected
It seems that packaging and marketing now decide what people will watch. I don't know; maybe it has always been that way. However, I remember a time when a person looked for story BEFORE effects. Apparently that time has come and gone.

"The Guillotines" is a story of the Quing dynasty in China. These were specially trained assassins for the Emporer's protection, as well as doing away with anyone who threated him. According to this story, after the Emporer discovered something known as guns, he no longer needed his personal killing squad, and they were now deemed a horrible stain on his reign. In fact, they are now deemed traitors to the throne and have bounties put on their heads.

If you are intending to rent or buy this film and think you are going to get a slap-dash, over-the-top (almost silly) redo of "Crouching Tiger," you need to rethink your purchase. This is a very deep, moving tale about brotherhood, survival, revenge, love, betrayal, and dealing...

THE GUILLOTINES Cuts Its Own Head Off At The Outset
Period actioners can be a very tough vehicle to sell, especially when they're loaded with characters. Typically, the bigger the cast the longer the film has to be in order to have enough time for (a) establishing everyone's identity, (b) giving each notable the necessary screen time to establish presence, and (c) allowing each of the principles to allow their respective thematic functions to be fulfilled. One fine example of this is THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (an American retread of the Japanese 1954 original SEVEN SAMURAI): each character gets an introduction respective of the role he'll play in the entire affair, and each character is given ample opportunity to develop a personality and some impactful `conclusion' to his participation in it.

To the contrary, THE GUILLOTINES kinda/sorta tinkers in similar territory, but director Andrew Lau (whose career proves he knows better) traffics in all the wrong directorial choices.

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