The Lost Bladesman

The Story

The Lost Bladesman Movie poster

Zhang Liao and Cao Cao

This movie told about Guan Yu story. The timeline was before the three kingdom arise, when Liu Bei and Cao Cao are still warlords. The story was tell from Cao Cao's point of view. Guan Yu was separate from his sworn brother Liu Bei, and he wanted to join him again. Liu Bei was with Yuan Shao while Guan was with Cao Cao at that time.

Qi Lan (Betty Sun), Liu Bei's third concubine. Fictional

There was some epic scene like Guan Yu killed Yan Liang only with one blow. However, there was some strange in this movie story line. It was told that Guan Yu falling in love with Liu Bei's third wife, which is I never heard in any three kingdom tale.Also, this movie tell that Cao Cao is not the one who wants to kill Guan Yu while the brave general escape from Cao to met Liu.

The Cast

Donnie Yen took role as Guan Yu, and Wen Jiang as Cao Cao. For me, Donnie Yen was very charismatic and outstanding in Ip Man. However in this movie, I think he can not show Guan Yu charm as the brave, the loyal and the marvelous general.

Besides in my mind Guan Yu is more big and fat than Donnie's image. Wen Jiang also looks awkward to become Cao Cao. Once again, in my imagination which i get from three kingdom books and games, Cao Cao is cold, smart and also a good motivator while in this movie Wen was failed to provide the picture of the King of Wei.

Emperor Xian

In fact, Wang Bo-Chieh stolen my attention as he become the Emperor Xian (Liu Xie). The Emperor in this movie was the one who gave order to kill Guan Yu. Wang played well as the weak emperor, but he also successfully take a role while the emperor show his evil side.

Conclusion

I think this movie is not very good for become a guideline for three kingdom story. Too much add on in this movie (Qi Lan factor and Emperor Xian evilness). If you like Chinese martial arts, this movie may be better for your entertainment (but i suggest you to watch Ip Man).