Something like a jumbled, back-to-front version of Tai Chi Master and Fong Sai Yuk. Shifting focus on at least ten major characters makes whatever story there is hard to follow. But there’s brother against brother, conflicts of loyalty, even disappointment in love. San (always good guy) is disappointed in his brother Kuang’s (weak character) decision to join the Cult, and how the power has corrupted him. Chin Chen (good guy) resists his brother Chan’s efforts to obtain the Classics. Chan tortures Chin by mistaking him for a pincushion then, with the help of his cranky but skilled old flame Hung and his daughter Tien, Chin trains San in the Classics, to fight Chan.

After an industrial disaster, the world’s food and water supplies are contaminated. The rich and powerful retreat into fortified cities where life goes on, undisturbed by the starving masses outside their walls. While the outside world slides into unspeakable madness, Jacob, an idealistic citizen is on his way to the inner sanctum with others hell-bent on revolution when their train is attacked. Taking refuge in an abandoned house, he stumbles on a warlord’s fortified cache of weapons and must fight for his life against humans turned savage. While desperately trying to hold onto his sanity, Jacob is forced into more and more heinous acts of torture and murder to keep himself alive.

Reese, an elite member of a covert unit of Ninja Warriors, is captured. Being tortured for information, Reese recalls the lessons learned from his training in order to fight his way free and stop an evil conglomerate from arming a dangerous weapon.

Trained in clandestine combat from childhood, the Jinyiwei were masters of the 14 Blades; eight being for torture, five for killing, and the last blade reserved for suicide when a mission failed. An elite force of secret agents with a license to kill, the Jinyiwei devoted their lives and lethal prowess to the service of the Emperor alone. When the Imperial Court is taken over by evil eunuch Jia (Law Kar Ying), the best of the Jinyiwei, Qinglong (Donnie Yen) is assigned to steal a list identifying those still loyal to the Emperor. However unbeknownst to Qinglong, the Jinyiwei have fallen under the control of Jia, and during the mission Qinglong is betrayed and barely escapes with his life. Now as the most wanted man in the land, Qinglong must seek out and rally the loyalists to rise against Jia and restore the Emperor to power. In his way are the deadliest assassins in the land, his former brethren, the Jinyiwei.