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The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman

Play trailer Poster for The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman PG-13 2011 1h 35m Action Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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46% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A group of misfits gets involved with a kitchen cleaver made from five of the greatest swords.
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The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman

Critics Reviews

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Jesse Cataldo Slant Magazine 03/20/2011
1.5/4
Wuershang is too busy mixing up a slurry of postmodern techniques, abortive fight scenes, and noisy set pieces to spend any time on fundamentals. Go to Full Review James Adams Globe and Mail 03/18/2011
2.5/4
About the only thing this cinematic whirligig skimps on is coherence, both narrative and aesthetic. Go to Full Review Andy Webster New York Times 03/18/2011
3/5
In his embrace of American sensibilities, Wuershan seems to have mastered a Hollywood specialty: empty calories served loud, flashy and fast. Go to Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com 09/04/2020
3.0/4.0
The film is chaotic, but it's also a tremendous amount of fun for those able to simply abandon their expectations. Go to Full Review Shelagh Rowan-Legg That Shelf 05/15/2018
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. Go to Full Review Simon Foster Digital Retribution 03/23/2011
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. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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08/17/2014 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... See more 04/06/2013 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. See more 10/12/2012 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. See more 06/29/2012 Razocaranje. Dolgocasno, nepovezano, rezija tudi cudna, zgodba kr neki, skratka skoda cajta. See more 05/11/2012 The kinda film that makes me wanna say "HUUUHH??" in both English AND Mandarin See more 02/24/2012 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. See more Read all reviews
The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman

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Cast & Crew

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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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The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman

Masanobu Andô as The Chef in "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman." Ashton Xu as The Swordsman in "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman." Liu Xiaoye as The Butcher in "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman." A scene from "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman." (L-R) You Benchang and Ashton Xu in "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman." Kitty Zhang as Madam Mei in "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman." Wuershan on the set of "The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman." The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman (2010) The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman (2010) View more photos

Movie Info

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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