Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Babes With Blades: Flower Of Sarnia; here's the breakdown of my ratings:
Story: 1.25
Direction: 1.50
Pace: 1.00
Acting: 1.00
Enjoyment: 1.25
TOTAL: 6 out of 10
Babes With Blades: Flower Of Sarnia came as a pleasant surprise as I scarfed my Sunday morning crumpets. This low budget martial arts fantasy sci-fi isn't the best I've seen, though it's enjoyable and entertaining.
It wasn't until I got to the end credits that I realised that the star of the picture, Cecily Fay (Azura), also wrote and directed the story. And that was another surprise, most writer/director projects tend to fail, and I incline toward an unhappy review. On the flip side. There are moments when projects gell and the end product works, which is the case for Babes With Blades.
The story isn't too complex, though it gets split into parts; 1 - The Backstory; 2 - The Capture; 3 - The Sentence; 4 - The Escape; 5- The Team Up; 6 - The Betrayal; 7 - The Resolution. Though the story is formulaic in form, the real trouble is the budget in relation to the story's scale. To make the tale of the flower stronger, more believable, and detailed would have required significant Hollywood backing. For example, the fights. These are to appease the violent nature of the planet's inhabitants and help keep them under control. The budget our filmmakers possessed allowed for what you see, a warehouse, a small crowd of people, some in their own Steampunk clobber, and the fighters' garb. I reckon the weapons they used were handmade or their own. And it works. However, what was required was a proper televised fighting arena, with spectators in the thousands, and a possible hidden signal in the transmission that helps subdue and satisfy the viewers around the globe. And that is the principal drawback with the story - it could be epic. The characters are fine, though a little more backstabbing between the baddies wouldn't have gone amiss. People like that very seldom trust anyone. On the whole, the dialogue is realistic and credible. It only suffers in the delivery from the cast.
As for the direction, well, I doff my cap to Fay here. After reading the reviews, I have to say that I disagree with most of them. Fay's style shows class and thoughtfulness. Her use of light, colour, and shade reminds me of the Italian horror masters - So you are in great company, my dear lady. It works to add atmosphere to the scene. And, it's so wonderful to have somebody bold enough to get vivid. There are no washed-out colours or grey filters used here, and the film is better for it. Thank you. I particularly liked Azura's training segment. Shot from the ground up is a delightful way to display the hand movements and the flow of the fighting style, which appears to be a form of Tai-Chi. Add a slight soft focus and a blue light haze, and you have a dreamlike relaxed atmosphere - very Zen. Then there's the escape fight sequence. Fay choreographed this against a red light wall. The silhouetted action looks incredible, except for a few of her moves. Some of them aren't as fluid or supple as they should be. I think this is down to her size difference; she should have swapped them out for other moves. That said, the end kill in this segment is spectacular. The only niggle I had was the shaky cam. I do hate this effect, and it gets shakier when the action starts. If you're a skilled martial artist, take a note from Jackie Chan and show it. Keep everyone in a steady full frame until a close-up is required. Doing so shows your skills off to the full.
The cast is a surprise too. These performers aren't seasoned actors, and in a martial arts film, we're not there for their acting ability. But most act as well as they can fight. They're not oscar quality performances, but they are above average; even the worst are enjoyable, though for the wrong reasons. Fay shows yet another string to her bow. She is one talented lady.
If you don't mind low budget martial arts films, then Babes With Blades could be for you. It certainly entertained me for the hour and a half run time, and my attention only wained a couple of times. It doesn't quite make my guilty pleasures list, though it was close, and I will probably watch it again...sometime.
Please feel free to visit my Holding Out For A Hero, Obsidian Dreams, and The Final Frontier lists to see where I ranked Babes With Blades: Flower Of Sarnia.
Take Care & Stay Well.
