Eye For An Eye: The Blind Swordsman review by Bobby Blakey
Well Go USA continues to be the top tier distributor for the Asian film market, most notably the martial arts genre. Their latest film, Eye For An Eye: The Blind Swordsman stars Xie Miao, newcomer Gao Yi, Zhang Haosen, Gao Weiman, Xiang Hao, Liu Ben, and Zhang Di from writer/director Bingjia Yang. Could this latest martial arts epic bring the sword wielding fun or will it fail to see its way to success?
Eye For An Eye: The Blind Swordsman follows a highly trained and exceptionally deadly swordsman who temporarily sets aside life as a bounty hunter to investigate after stumbling into the aftermath of a brutal attack that resulted in an innocent man’s murder. As the truth behind the tragedy comes to light, the former killer-for-hire decides to hunt down his prey for an entirely different reason: rage.
I love all things martial arts, especially the wuxia genre. Throughout the years there have been numerous features that offer up blind martial arts heroes and villains and when handled properly add an awesome element to the film. This one managed to elevate a very simple story to something a bit more with a short run time that gets right to the point with some action early on. This kind of just sets up who our blind swordsman is before getting the meat of the story.
There is an interesting shift in time for the story showcasing the aftermath of events before circling back to show it in its entirety. This allows us to be with the character as he discovers the mysterious circumstances of these deaths and
moves forward. Thanks to the shorter run time it wastes not time with lots of unnecessary dialogue and character moments keeping it from getting convoluted like some of these films do at times.
Where this film shines is in the action which is one of the most important to really believe in the ability of the character and XE Miao is excellent. The fighting isn’t wire work heavy or overly stylized, but instead more straight forward and creatively executed. There are some moments that I wish the camera work was smoother, but overall, it still looks great. The finale offers up some of the coolest visuals and moments including a snow-covered fight sequence that is filled with beautiful shots.
In the end it doesn’t break any new ground, but still manages to bring some great action, a good story and well-done performances. I really dug this one and if you are a fan of the genre like me then you probably will too.
Decide for yourself and grab your copy of Eye For An Eye: The Blind Swordsman streaming now on Hi-Yah! and then on digital, Blu-ray and DVD on November 28th from Well Go USA.