The Current Cinema - John Snadden anticipates much enjoyment from BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES 2 (Lu Yang, China)

Teaser Poster, Brotherhood of Blades 2

Good news for fans of Chinese cinema: the much anticipated martial-arts film BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES 2 opens locally and around Australia today, screening at selected Hoyts and Village theatres and Melbourne's Chinatown cinema. In 2014, BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES was a surprise box-office hit in China and did big box-office internationally. At the time, it was thought the Chinese govt did its best to stifle the movie's initial release. An historical film that showed a repressive regime using secret police as assassins to eliminate citizens opposing the government, was something contemporary bureaucrats saw as being morally dubious. Maybe these officials have never seen any Shaw Brothers films...Dubious or not the film found a growing audience and a hurried re-release saw the movie become a belated commercial and critical hit in the Middle Kingdom.

Yang Mi, Chang Chen, Brotherhood of Blades 2

BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES 2 returns with the same star (Chang Chen) and director (Lu Yang) on board, and with a larger budget. It looks to be a prequel with a similar story-line which has loyal govt agents being set up and then hunted down by corrupt government officials.

Chang Chen, Brotherhood of Blades 2