Critic’s Rating: 1.5 Star.

Cast: Jackie Chan, John Cusack, Adrien Brody.

Direction: Daniel Lee.

Producer: Visualizer Films.

Written: Daniel Lee.

Genre: Historical.

Duration: 127 Mins.

Set in the time of the Han Dynasty, Dragon Blade is purported to be based on true historical events. Those are difficult to pinpoint when you realise that the convoluted plot is going to hinder the experience.



Huo An (Jackie Chan) is the leader of the Silk Road Protection Squad, set to maintain peace between the multicultural armies that traverse the strategic route. Despite being honour bound to his forces, Huo is framed for the smuggling of gold coins and is exiled to the border of the Han Dynasty. There, he is subjected to hard labour, along with other workers, to restore the Wild Geese Gate, located at the frontier.

A Roman General, Lucius (John Cusack), is leading his renegade army from Rome through the Silk Road, to protect Publius (Jozef Waite), who would have been next in line for the Consul seat if not for the ploys and the attempted assassination by his older brother Tiberius (Adrien Brody). After the initial duels between the Roman army and the border stronghold, the two groups unite to rebuild the city. However, Tiberius is not far behind…

Dragon Blade begins with arresting shots of the arid desert, the striking art design of the era, a befitting soundtrack and crackling fight scenes by the plentiful. What undoes completely the efforts of the production design and action choreography is the storyline. Marred by poor dubbing, unintelligible accents and plot expositions, the audience’s interest in the dazzling combat will wane.

For all its historical seriousness, the film throws in attempts at humour, which may not be entirely juvenile, but certainly take away from the otherwise sombre setting. The characters are not well-established. There are poorly edited flashbacks which seem inserted in scenes where they are not required. A more linear progression on any character’s backstory would have better suited the narrative.

The second half suffers greatly in that regard; negating most of the positives from the first half, with an even more mediocre treatment which makes it seem like the film switched directors midway. The climactic confrontation between the hero and the villain does justice to the build-up. But Dragon Blade is ultimately a test of patience, more so in the scenes when there is no fighting but unfathomable chatter and jerky transitions between the past and present.

The film could have been a comment on unity, multi-culturalism and royal intrigue. What we are saddled instead with is a Jackie Chan vehicle that has its combative pirouettes in the right place, though not the story or a neatly arranged presentation of the same.