“The Butcher’s Blade” Poster
Director: Liu Wenpu
Cast: Liu Fengchao, Yuan Fufu, Chunyu Shanshan, Liu En Shang, Gao Wei Man, Liu Ben
Running Time: 90 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Remember those old-school Korean kung-fu movies that got re-titled for international distribution with names like Shaolin Drunken Monkey and 7-Star Grand Mantis, only to leave viewers baffled when it turned out there was no discernible monkey (drunken or any other) or mantis styles on display? The 2026 Chinese streaming movie The Butcher’s Blade kind of falls into the same category, albeit it more than 40 years later, in that I can confidently say there where no butcher’s blades in sight. Perhaps the title is intended to be a metaphor, in which case it would require me exerting more brain power than I currently have available, but in any case, if you’re after some butcher blade action, my recommendation is to stick with Korea’s Kundo: Age of the Rampant.
Having addressed the elephant in the room, the story involves a constable played by Liu Fengchao (Eye for an Eye 2: Blind Vengeance, The Four 2), who also serves as our narrator. Having trained at the prestigious Eagle Hall 10 years earlier in the 3 principles of being a constable – capture, interrogation, and execution – his reluctance to get involved in the brutality interrogation usually entails has seen him held back to a local prefecture over the big city. Keen to impress the local noodle store owner he has his eye on, Fengchao requests to be assigned to protect the disaster relief aid provided by the government after a recent flood, hoping the job will provide some additional income. However when a stash of sliver that was part of the relief is stolen, it reunites him with a junior colleague from his training days.
Played by Yuen Fufu (The Rescue, Sniper 2), despite being Fengchao’s junior he’s excelled in his role thanks to the desensitised approach he takes to the pain being dished out, which includes sticking fingers into open wounds. Now partnered under the watchful eye of their teacher, played by Chunyu Shanshan (Blades of the Guardians, Wolf Warrior 2), Fengchao finds himself willing to get in touch with his darker side in order to get to the bottom of the theft, and prove himself worthy of his role. I confess during the initial scenes of The Butchers’s Blade I felt a quietly creeping dread that it was going to be one of those overly dour Chinese period pieces, the kind where everyone speaks in hushed tones for the entirety of the runtime, and you have to be in a very specific kind of mood to enjoy.
However director Liu Wenpu creates a deceptively brisk pace, quickly establishing an interesting trio of central characters, and a core mystery that feels compelling enough to be invested in seeing said characters get to the bottom of it. The Butcher’s Blade is only Wenpu’s third outing as a director, having debuted in 2020 with Sword and Fire, which was followed up in 2022 by Mutant Tiger (is it just me, or could mutant tigers be a whole sub-genre of the Chinese steaming movie scene!?), and he shows an assured hand. I was reminded more than once during the runtime of Partick Yuen’s 1981 Shaw Brothers movie What Price Honesty? in the way it explores themes of a pure hearted constable gradually getting a taste of power, and the ability that power has to corrupt.
The result is that rare kung-fu movie that delivers the trifactor of characters who the audience cares about, a compelling story, and killer action (which we’ll get to later). As the lead Fengchao is particularly interesting, being a constable who’s essentially competent in his role, but powerless when it comes to the politics of the world – the perfect example being when he impressively takes on a group of attackers in the opening scene to apprehend a criminal responsible for disfiguring a prostitute, only to reluctantly let him walk free after it’s revealed he’s the son of a government official.
Fengchao himself fits into that niche group of kung-fu performers who were given a break in the transitionary period of the late 2000’s, when Hong Kong cinema was still showing faint echoes of its glory days, while the Mainland began to cast a larger and larger shadow. Debuting as one of the leads in the Jackie Chan produced, Sammo Hung starring Wushu from 2008, after a stop and start career throughout the 2010’s, the boom in Chinese streaming content in the 21st century has already seen him feature in 17 movies, notably becoming a Qin Ping Fei regular. He’d even have an opportunity to direct with 2024’s The Evils Hunter in which he also took on the main role, with The Butcher’s Blade offering up the first time to see him take on leading man duty since.
Despite the punchy 90-minute runtime, surprisingly most of the initial half hour is spent on the investigation, which much like Peter Chan’s Wu Xia (we even get x-ray bone breakages!), takes on an entertaining kung-fu focused slant. The fact Fengchao witnessed one of the thieves break a guard’s ribs with his bare hands leads them to deduct it must be someone from the local dye factory, their days spent wringing out reams of material being the only way someone would have built up sufficient hand strength. The result is an impressively staged fight scene that pits Fengchao and Fufu against Li Qiankun (who worked on the action for both Eye for an Eye movies) in and around sheets of material hung out to dry. Qiankun in particular pays clear homage to Donnie Yen in Once Upon a Time in China II, brandishing a twisted linen sheet as a kind of makeshift pole/whip much like Yen does in the alleyway fight scene against Jet Li.
Qiankun also acts as one of the action choreographers alongside Zhang Wei, who similarly worked on both of the Eye for an Eye movies, with overall action director duties sitting with Du Xiaohui (Fight Against Evil 2, Curbing Violence). All three have worked together before in some capacity, and over the years it’s been consistently proven that the more the same crew work together (both in front and behind the camera), the higher quality the action becomes, as choreographers and performers get used to each other’s rhythms and styles. The Chinese streaming world is now at a level of maturity that the likes of Xiaohui, Qiankun, and Wei are a solid unit, and watching the behind the scenes fight rehearsals that play over the end credits, it’s clear that a lot of effort and passion has gone into the fights that appear onscreen.
What I admired just as much though is the fact that, as a director, Wenpu uses the fight scenes as an integral part of propelling the narrative forward. The fights here aren’t just exclamation marks, the story wouldn’t function without them, whether it be apprehending a criminal or seeing a friendship fracture. It’s a classic example of quality over quantity, offering up a handful of fights where every one of them has something on the line, rather than opt for a constant stream of inconsequential scuffles. Weapons fans will definitely be pleased as there’s a heavy focus on weapons work in the choreography, with a highlight being a rope dart wielding Fengchao duelling it out with a sword brandishing Fufu in a lengthy brawl, one that belies the fact we’re watching a streaming movie. Throw in oversized spears, and probably the most grounded use of a lyre as a weapon I’ve seen (Brigitte Lin has a lot to answer for!), there’s a lot to enjoy.
With some surprisingly cinematic shots that I would have happily paid to have seen on the big screen, Wenpu and the whole crew behind The Butcher’s Blade have crafted a perfectly seasoned slice of wuxia intrigue. Very much What Price Honesty? meets Wu Xia for the modern-day streaming era, it would seem having genuine martial arts talent in front of the camera is one way for the production to make the most of the limited budget behind the camera. For fans of kung-fu cinema, the end result is a win-win, with The Butcher’s Blade being one of the best examples of the genre yet.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10
