Blades of the Guardians:
Wind Rises in the Desert
镖人 风起大漠
China, 2026, colour, 2.35:1, 125 mins.
Director: Yuan Heping 袁和平.
Rating: 6/10.
Attempt to revive the traditional wuxia genre (sans top-heavy VFX) on the big screen is a mixed bag, entertaining enough but very repetitive.
STORY
Chisha township, China’s Western Regions, the final years of the Sui dynasty, c. AD 600. Bounty hunter Dao Ma (Wu Jing), a former imperial cavalry guard, arrives in the desert township with his young nephew Xiaoqi (Ju Qianlang), the son of his late younger sister Aqi (Wang Xi). In an inn he approaches his target, wanted bandit One Lamp (Kou Zhanwen), and asks for three times the bounty for not killing him. After beating several of One Lamp’s men, Dao Ma eventully gets what he wants. While staying at an inn run by secret martial artist Two-Headed Snake (Zhang Jin), Dao Ma is invited to the home of the township’s governor, Chang (Li Lianjie), and offered the job of training his soldiers. Dao Ma refuses, despite Chang offering him a valuable sword as an inducement. Leter, during the night, Chang and his men turn up at the inn and try to extort money from Two-Headed Snake. Chang has him strung up, until Dao Ma comes down and rescues him, claiming that Two-Headed Snake is actually his next target. Dao Ma and Two-Headed Snake end up fighting Chang together. When the other two are killed, Dao Ma manages to escape on horseback across the desert with Xiaoqi, pursued by Chang’s men. They are eventually rescued by a team of female archers led by Ayuya (Chen Lijun), daughter of Lao Mo (Liang Jiahui), leader of the Mo Family clan, in whose community among some cliffs Dao Ma has a home. Ayuya dreams of going with him to Chang’an (modern Xi’an), capital of the Sui dynasty, but Dao Ma manages to put her off. Lao Mo tells Dao Ma that he has a 30,000 price on his head; the only person with a bigger bounty is anti-Sui revolutionary leader Zhishilang (Sun Yizhou), head of the Huayan group, who is hiding out with them. As a personal favour, Lao Mo asks Dao Ma to escort Zhishilang, who wears an opera mask to conceal his identity, safely to Chang’an. At the last minute Ayuya and her personal female bodyguard A’ni (Xiong Jinyi) join them, with Dao Ma reluctantly agreeing. The group of five set off across the desert on the fourth day of the fourth month. At one border the group is stopped by guards and Zhishilang is only saved thanks to a secret follower (Meng Hetang). Meanwhile, two former imperial cavalry guards, Diting (Xie Tingfeng) and Weizhi (Liang Biying), arrive at Two-Headed Snake’s inn looking for Dao Ma and his nephew; they kill some of Chang’s men who arrive. On its journey the group is attacked in a canyon by various parties but manages to escape. Zhishilang, who isn’t used to such activity, begs to ride inside a carriage that happens to come by. Inside is a young bounty hunter, Shu, aka Jade-Faced Ghost (Yu Shi), and his prisoner, Yan Ziniang (Li Yunxiao), an escaped courtesan of a powerful figure in the Sui government. Shu allows the group to ride along in the carriage; they’re then attacked by a gang led by an old bounty hunter, Feng San (Xu Xiangdong), which they beat. Meanwhile, Lao Mo atends a meeting of five clan leaders at which one clan’s young master, the ambitious Heyi Xuan (Ci Sha), tries to persuade all the leaders to swear loyalty to Pei Shiju (Zhang Yi), military commander of the Western Regions. Lao Mo refuses and leaves. Back in his village, he orders an immediate evacuation as he knows Heyi Xuan will be coming for him, as well as for Ayuya, to whom he was always promised. Meanwhile, during the crossing of Heiwutan oilfield Shu challenges Dao Ma to a fight, as he wants to add the highly-prized Zhishilang to his own bounty. Shu loses but Dao Ma agrees to him carrying on with them. (Dao Ma remembers adopting Xiaoqi when the child’s mother was murdered.) The group relaxes at night and Dao Ma has a heartfelt chat with Yuchi clan leader Auntie Yuchi [Hui Yinghong], who works as a blacksmith. He expresses his admiration for her late father. Next day, at an old ferry crossing, the group runs into Heyi Xuan, leading troops representing the four clans who agreed to unite. Lao Mo is conspicuously absent. And while the four clans want Zhishilang, Heyi Xun wants Ayuya and has brought her a special present.
REVIEW
An attempt to revive the traditional wuxia genre (sans top-heavy VFX) on the big screen, Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert 镖人 风起大漠 is a very mixed bag that often delivers – thanks to a nicely sardonic performance by action star Wu Jing 吴京 – but is too episodic to develop much dramatic heft. Based on the 2015 manga by Mainland comic artist Xu Xianzhe 许先哲, that was already adapted into a 15-part web manga (Blades of the Guardians 镖人, 2023), and directed by Hong Kong action veteran Yuan Heping 袁和平, it passes a couple of hours agreeably enough but is more memorable for its location shooting in the deserts of Xinjiang province than much else. Taking a handsome but not humoungous RMB1.45 billion at the Mainland box office, it scraped a second place in this year’s Chinese New Year stakes, just ahead of flashy spy thriller Scare Out 惊蛰无声 (RMB1.36 billion; dir. Zhang Yimou 张艺谋) but a long way behind the clear No. 1, rally-driving yarn Pegasus 3 飞驰人生3 (RMB4.40 billion; dir. Han Han 韩寒), starring popular comic actor Shen Teng 沈腾.
Yuan, now 80, directed Wu, now 52, in the latter’s film debut, the Hong Kong production Tai Chi Boxer 太极拳 (1996), so it’s good to see the two together again over a quarter of a century later. Yuan’s last directing credit was an episode in the portmanteau Septet: The Story of Hong Kong 七人乐队 (2020); prior to that he directed the spin-off Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy 叶问外传 张天志 (2018), starring Zhang Jin 张晋, the (top-notch) fight sequences in Ip Man 4: The Finale 叶问4 完结篇(2019), and the pulpy, old-style costume action movie The Thousand Faces of Dunjia 奇门遁甲 (2017), produced and lead written by Xu Ke 徐克 [Tsui Hark].
Yuan has never had a strong stylistic fingerprint – his action sequences are either good or not – and neither does Blades of the Guardians. The widescreen photography by Hong Kong’s Zhang Dongliang 张东亮 [Tony Cheung] eats up the dusty, sun-burned Xinjiang scenery as Wu’s former cavalry officer-turned-bounty hunter – with a massive price on his own head – hunts down various targets and is quite content if they agree to buy him off. Apparently motivated by nothing except money, Dao Ma (literally, “Sword Horse”) does a favour for an old friend – Hong Kong veteran Liang Jiahui 梁家辉 [Tony Leung Ka-fai] in a resonant guest appearance – by escorting an anti-government revolutionary leader to the capital, Chang’an (modern-day Xi’an), as well as his friend’s feisty warrior daughter and her personal bodyguard. Riding side-saddle with Dao Mao is his young nephew, Xiaoqi, whom he adopted after his younger sister was murdered (in a briefly referenced backstory).
Along the way the group of five is attacked by various parties, including other bounty hunters as well as an ex-cavalry colleague of Dao Ma who’s pursuing him for a reason – Hong Kong’s Xie Tingfeng 谢霆锋 [Nicholas Tse], who provides the film’s finale with an epic fight vs. Dao Ma but doesn’t bring much personal drama to his role. That’s hardly Xie’s fault, as the script – by four people, including Mainlander director-writers Yu Baimei 俞白眉 and Yang Zi 杨子 [Larry Yang], plus Taiwan writer-producer Su Zhaobin 苏照彬 (Reign of Assassins 剑雨, 2010) – isn’t strong on involving human emotion. Wu, as usual, gets by with his twinkly-eyed smile as the phlegmatic swordsman who obviously hides a tortured past, but his only moment of some emotion is a nightime chat with an old female friend he meets en route (a nice cameo by Hui Yinghong 惠英红 [Kara Hui] as a blacksmith).
Other roles are competently played in wuxia style: Yue opera actress Chen Lijun 陈丽君, now 34, as the sparky warrior daughter Ayuya who wants to see the bright lights of Chang’an, and Yu Shi 于适, now 29, as an ambitious young bounty hunter the group hooks up with. The film makes conspicuous use of fire throughout – especially in a duel set amid flaming pools of oil – but rarely rises to moments of wuxia grandeur, except in an eight-minute sandstorm chase which succeeds in being heroic without crossing into fantastique territory. Otherwise, the film is basically one fight/battle after another, technically fine but nothing special, and the final fight between Wu and Xie seems to go on forever, partly due to a lot of talk and backstory that’s ladled on after almost two hours.
The film was shot in Xinjiang, northwest China, with studio work in Beijing, from late Jul to late Nov 2024. However, during postproduction a public controversy was sparked over Inner Mongolian-born Ayuya actress Na’ernaxi 那尔那茜 (S.W.A.T. 特警队, 2019; Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force 封神第二部 战火西岐, 2025) reportedly having falsified her exam application for Shanghai Theatre Academy. It was decided to recast her role with Chen – necessitating some 11 days of extra shooting (costing RMB100 million-150 million) and delaying the release date from 2025 to 2026. The film’s final budget was RMB850 million.
A prequel is already in pre-production, centring on young bounty hunter Shu. Provisionally titled Blades of the Guardians: War Rises in Jiangdu 镖人 战起江都, it is to be released in 2028.
CREDITS
Presented by Xiamen Yuen Woo-ping Film (CN), Damai Entertainment (Beijing) (CN), Beijing Dengfeng International Cultural Communication (CN), Beijing Mengqi Film & TV Production (CN), Zhejiang Yingmei Film (CN), Ningbo Hele Yingji Cultural Communication (CN), Huaxia Film Distribution (CN), China Film Group (CN).
Script: Yu Baimei, Su Zhaobin, Chen Dali, Yang Zi [Larry Yang]. Manga: Xu Xianzhe. Photography: Zhang Dongliang [Tony Cheung]. Editing: Zhang Jiahui [Cheung Ka-fai], Zhang Chao. Music supervision: Yu Fei, Li Jiaqi, Wang Xinghe. Music direction: Hu Wei. Art direction: Lin Mu. Styling: Liang Tingting. Sound: Wang Yanwei. Action: Gu Xuanzhao, Dang Shanpeng. Visual effects: Cai Meng, Zhang Fan. Creative advisor: Saluja Jasvinder.
Cast: Wu Jing (Dao Ma), Xie Tingfeng [Nicholas Tse] (Diting), Yu Shi (Shu/Jade-Faced Ghost), Chen Lijun (Ayuya, Lao Mo’s daughter), Sun Yizhou (Zhishilang, leader of Huayan group), Ci Sha [Nuosu Muguregu Jiwucisha] (Heyi Xuan, Heyi clan young master), Li Yunxiao (Yan Ziniang, Shu’s female prisoner), Liang Jiahui [Tony Leung Ka-fai] (Lao Mo, Mo Family clan leader), Zhang Jin (Shuangtoushe/Two-Headed Snake), Hui Yinghong [Kara Hui] (Auntie Yuchi, Tiele clan leader), Zhang Yi (Pei Shiju, Western Regions military commander), Li Lianjie [Jet Li] (Chang, Chisha township governor), Liu Yaowen (Pei Xingyan, deputy general, Pei Shiju’s nephew), Xiong Jinyi (A’ni, Ayuya’s personal bodyguard), Ju Qianlang (Xiaoqi, Dao Ma’s nephew), Bainarisu (Aluohan, giant warrior), Liang Biying (Weizhi, female warrior with Diting), Wen Junhui (Yuji Niuluo, Yuji clan young master), Dong Sicheng (Da Lai), Lin Qiunan (Xiaolai), Jing Ci (Peiwu Mi’er, Peiwu clan young master), Zhang Yilong (Wululu), Li Jiahui (Lin Rong, Chisha township garrison captain), Kou Zhanwen (Yizhandeng/One Lamp), Dai Lele (Two-Headed Snake’s wife), Shi Yanneng (Duyanlong/One-Eyed Dragon, bounty hunter), Xu Xiangdong (Feng San, bounty hunter), Chunyu Shanshan (Peiwu clan leader), Meng Hetang (Chen Shijiu, border guard), Yu Rongguang (Ying Long, one of the Six Masters), Yuan Heping, Zhang Xinyan, Wu Bin (three old men at end), Zhu Yawen (off-screen narrator), Yuan Jinhui (Alai, Two-Headed Snake’s son), Wang Xi (Aqi, Dao Mao’s younger sister).
Release: China, 17 Feb 2026.