Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Interestingly enough, Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield has little to do, plot wise, with the 2014 film, Brotherhood of Blades. There are minor nods to the original, and the main characters translate across (but only two actors from the original translate from one film to the next), but the story is completely unrelated to its predecessor except for the title, and for the fact that Shen Lian and the infamous jinyiwei royal police are involved. I never expected the sequel to be a direct story line sequel to the first movie (most Asian cinema aren’t), and luckily you as the audience don’t need to watch the previous film to understand what’s going on in the sequel. Instead, just know that both films star the same lead character, and the same sense of high flying action and political intrigue to make for a rather fun mainland Chinese film that easily surpasses many of the period piece action/dramas coming out of the nation today.

Opening up the film is a prequel scene in the year 1619. In the battle of Sarhu with the Ming Dynasty fighting the Manchu Jin Dynasty, a soldier named Shen Lian (Zhang Zhen) ends up rescuing several higher ranking military leaders, one of whom is Lu Wenzhao (Zhang Yi), a man who is eternally in his debt. Fast forward 8 years and Shen Lian is now a captain in the jinyiwei (the secret military police) investigating a murder of a man name Gao, only to have his position usurped from underneath him by a lower ranking officer of another branch (who just so happens to be the nephew of the Eastern block’s leader, Wei Zhongxian (Jin Shijie). Push comes to shove, and Shen Lian makes an enemy that day. An enemy that may upset his entire career when Shian is forced to intervene in the abuse of a political prisoner by this man. Unfortunately this low ranking officer also has the power to end Shen’s career. In the ensuing scuffle for dominance, Shen ends up killing Wei Zhongxian’s nephew and has now become the target of blackmail by the same political prisoner he was protecting.

It turns out that this particular prisoner is in league with rebels fighting against the emperor, and are more than willing to use their newfound leverage to get Shen to do what they want. It starts out as simply burning the imperial archives down, but one thing leads to another and soon Shen is killing for the rebels and getting himself deeper and deeper into conspiracy so deep that it involves so much more than just a few paltry rebels trying to take out their anger on the king. A conspiracy that very well may upset an entire nation from within due to treason and terror.

I really enjoyed Brotherhood of Blades 3 years ago, and rather enjoyed the sequel almost as much today. The film doesn’t carry over much from the original besides names and military ranks, but it does keep the political intrigue and high flying action to a maximum like its predecessor. The story starts out infinitely better though, and uses the mysterious blackmail plot line to really push the story along quite nicely. By the time we got to the fight in the imperial archives I was sitting on the edge of my seat with excitement thinking to myself “wow, this is a lot better than the original!”, when the second act starts. I am not trying to be negative, but there is a distinct dip in quality from the first half of the film to the second half, with the second half miring itself with too much double backing and typical Chinese tragedy elements taking over from the fun blackmail story. The romance between Shen and Bei Zhai is a bit forced and melodramatic, but the action in the film more than makes up for it.

The movie is full, and I mean FULL, of non stop action, with high flying martial arts and Wu Xia stylings that are reminiscent of a time long gone. You can definitely tell the film was made with 3D in mind (3D is still huge over in China, even though its winding down here in America), and the political subtext mixed with incredibly choreographed fight scenes makes for a compelling watch. Taiwanese actor Zhang Zhen is on top of his game as the beleaguered and trapped Shen Lian, and fellow actors all mesh together incredibly well. I was actually rather impressed with how complex and intricate the film was, as the first movie seemed a bit simplistic with its intrigue. Unfortunately that’s also the film’s downside, as the second half is overly complex and utilizes too many double backs for its own good. A move that weakens it from the fantastic second half, but luckily ends up finishing the movie off with a wonderfully bittersweet ending.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Just like the first one, Brotherhood of Blades II comes to Blu-ray with an absolutely mesmerizing 1080p encode. If anything, the sequel is actually slightly better than the predecessor, and turns up the amperage just a little bit. The digitally shot film looks impeccable on screen, with that traditional “blue” hue to the color grading that is so prevalent in Asian cinema. However, it is not overly blue and the resulting image is startlingly neutral most of the time. Colors are sharp and bright, with amazing saturation for all of the intricately nuanced brocaded robes, as well as the maroon blood that splashes every time Shen engages in combat. Black levels are inky deep, and the amount of sheer detail on screen is staggering. Every bit of blood, and every fiber on the characters clothing is revealing to the max, and I was literally shocked at how detailed the water was in the lake where Shen and Bei Zhai have their little “encounter”. Simply put, a picture perfect encode that shows no faults to my eye.





Audio:

Well Go USA has been really good about putting DTS:X tracks on their bigger releases, and Brotherhood of Blades II is given a truly epic audio mix. The aggressive nature of the action oriented mix is not lost on the listener, as it pounds them into their seats with a sonic assault that doesn’t let up from beginning to end. Dialog is clean and clear, while the surrounds are given some pretty epic levels of immersion with all sorts of combat ringing from every direction. The nature of Wu Xia and the flying martial arts makes for an experience that allows for the heroes to whoosh from one end of the screen to the other with pinpoint precision, as well as DEVASTATING bass throughout the film. The overheads are used quite extensively, showcasing the the high flying aspect of the movie, with blades, whirling balls on chains, and crashing rocks to emanate from the upper channels.






Extras:

• Behind-the-Scenes Footage
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

A mixture of politic intrigue, action, moral qualms, and lots more action, Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield is a fun little mainland Chinese film that works way more often than it doesn’t. There’s some hiccups along the way, but the movie is engaging and exciting, with a little bit of everything for everyone, even though the second half tries to stuff a little too much political machinations into the 2 hour run time than what was good for it. The Blu-ray itself is nothing short of jaw dropping in regards to the technical specs, with only the near nonexistent extras to detract from the amazing audio and video. Definitely worth a fun watch for those who like Chinese period pieces with some spice.





Technical Specifications:

Starring: Chen Chang, Mi Yang, Yi Zhang
Directed by: Yang Lu
Written by: Yang Lu, Shu Chen
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS:X, Mandarin DD 2.0, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional)
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 120 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 13th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Never saw the first one or heard of this franchise. After reading the review, I will search for it. Thanks.