14 Blades

14 Blades is a Hong Kong action drama set during the Ming dynasty. The emperor's most trusted enforcers are the Jinyiwei, an elite corps of assassins recruited from the streets and trained from childhood. Their leader, Qinglong, answers only to the throne, and his authority rests on fourteen blades: some for interrogation, some for killing, and the last reserved for himself if he fails. When a power struggle at court turns against him, Qinglong is hunted by the very men he once commanded. Wounded and betrayed, he sets out to uncover who is behind the plot and to recover what has been taken from the emperor's possession.

Donnie Yen plays Qinglong, with Sammo Hung as Prince, Wu Chun as the Judge of the Desert, Kate Tsui as Tuo Tuo, Qi Yuwu as Xuan Wu and Damian Lau as Zhao Shenyan. Daniel Lee directed and co-wrote the film with Lau Ho-leung and Chan Siu-Cheung. It followed Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon in Lee's filmography and preceded White Vengeance.

Made for about 20 million US dollars, the film drew modest audience scores, sitting at 6.3 out of 10 on IMDb from some 8,800 votes and the same average on TMDB from just over 200 votes. A critics' rating of 4.1 out of 10 from twelve reviews places it well below those audience figures.