Knights of Valour

Chinese historic war cinema on the cheap. It was only a matter of time before China would hark back to the glorious war epics that graced the screens almost two decades ago. The biggest difference with Knights of Valour is scope and budget. While director Yilin is used to making do with little, it's not easy when working in this particular niche.

When Guan Xing's father is killed in battle and his weapon is taken by the leader of the Wu, Guan wants revenge. Two years later he gets his chance, when a map is discovered that leads right into a nearby city controlled by the Wu. With a small team, Guan is tasked to explore and infiltrate the city, but the closer they come to their goal, the more obvious it is they are running into a trap.

The CG is a little dodgy and the lack of massive battlefield scenes is hard to miss, but the focus on a small infiltration team is smart and the film looks pretty solid beyond its budgetary limitations. And so Knights of Valour is pretty decent filler, much like all the other short streaming fodder. Not bad, just don't expect it to stand out.