The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman

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The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman

PG-13

Released Mar 18, 2011

1h 35m

Action

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

46%

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13 Reviews

40%

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500+ Ratings

A group of misfits gets involved with a kitchen cleaver made from five of the greatest swords.

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Jesse Cataldo

Slant Magazine

Wuershang is too busy mixing up a slurry of postmodern techniques, abortive fight scenes, and noisy set pieces to spend any time on fundamentals.

Rated: 1.5/4

Mar 20, 2011

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James Adams

Globe and Mail

About the only thing this cinematic whirligig skimps on is coherence, both narrative and aesthetic.

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 18, 2011

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Andy Webster

New York Times

In his embrace of American sensibilities, Wuershan seems to have mastered a Hollywood specialty: empty calories served loud, flashy and fast.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 18, 2011

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

The film is chaotic, but it's also a tremendous amount of fun for those able to simply abandon their expectations.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 4, 2020

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Shelagh Rowan-Legg

That Shelf

This film breaks almost every filmic rule regarding amount of content, pacing and editing speed, but somehow the combination flies through the air as swiftly and smoothly as the magical cleaver, slicing all that oppose it.

May 15, 2018

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Simon Foster

Digital Retribution

It is hard to say how much influence (Doug) Liman had over the finished product, but the already jittery directorial eye of Wuershan may have been better served by a collaborator who favours a less-is-more approach.

Mar 23, 2011

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Audience Member

It was good for a few laughs, but it is hard to follow..... use your imagination to fill in the confusing parts and all is well...

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Audience Member

Dao jian xiao is an off-kilter buddhist allegory that combines some fairly strong drama with a good dose of rather vicious sense of humor, tossing in a bunch of genre and popcultural references and spicing it all up with a generous serving of Chinese bawdy slapstick. All that is wrapped in some pretty stunning visuals (apparently Wuershan's strong point). The revenge story is the best balanced and best executed bit and it is definitely where most of the emotional appeal of the film springs from. Second best would be the story of the ambitious Swordsman - a stylish play on wuxia tropes and stereotypes. Sadly, the one story that frames the whole narrative (Butcher) is the weakest of all and it throws the whole film off balance. It does have its charms (especially if you happen to like Chinese bawdy slapstick or if you at least tolerate it well), but it is plagued by unnecessary popcultural references and it is a bit of an overkill in terms of crude comedy... Also, while the connection and transition between the Chef and the Swordsman stories are quite seamless and organic, the transition from the Butcher to the Chef and back is a lot less convincing. Wuershan definitely needs to learn some discipline. "I've got lots of insane ideas and I won't hesitate to use them ALL" is not the best narrative strategy. However, Dao jian xiao is by no means a stupid movie and while its main purpose is to entertain, it's not as hollow or as empty as lots of critics make it out to be. Swordsman (lobha) - 80%. Chef (dosa) - 100% Butcher (moha) - 60% 80% total. Om mani padme hum.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

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Audience Member

at first , i don't really understand what the story is . but as long as the story goes, the plots becomes clearer and interesting , and also it is funny too. loves it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Audience Member

Razocaranje. Dolgocasno, nepovezano, rezija tudi cudna, zgodba kr neki, skratka skoda cajta.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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Audience Member

The kinda film that makes me wanna say "HUUUHH??" in both English AND Mandarin

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Audience Member

What the heck, this had some promise and a few cool parts, but it is visually all over the place, and some of the story and acting is just terrible, so it was kinda disappointing.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Wuershan

Director

Masanobu Andô

Actor

Yuqi Zhang

Actor

You Benchang

Actor

Liu Xiaoye

Actor

Ashton Xu

Actor

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Synopsis

A group of misfits gets involved with a kitchen cleaver made from five of the greatest swords.

Director: Wuershan
Screenwriter: Wuershan, Zhang Jiajia, Ma Luoshan, Tang Que
Distributor: China Lion Film Distribution
Production Co: Fox International Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Sequences of Stylized Violence|Partial Nudity|Brief Crude Humor|Some Bloody Images)
Genre: Action, Comedy
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 18, 2011, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Runtime: 1h 35m

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