Verdict
Summary
Short at only 78 minutes, Eye for an Eye ends abruptly, but for the most part it delivers with a simple story, decent action that comes in fits and spurts, and a hero that might be a little underdeveloped, but still appealing in the mold of Zatoichi.
Plot:
A wandering ronin seeks revenge on behalf of a widow whom he takes sympathy on.
Review:
Bounty hunter and ronin Cheng Xiazi (Miao Xie) is blind, but entirely formidable in every way. It’s almost supernatural in how he can best his enemies in battle and detect danger, deception, and tomfoolery, and it never fails that people try to take advantage of him – whether it be in gambling sessions where they think they can fool him, or in trying to rob him of his coin after he wins. The guy is lethal, and people always figure it out too late. When he ends up in a little village somewhere, he tries buying some wine for his journey, but the winemaker – a humble woman about to be married later that day – denies him because all the wine is going to be used for the wedding, which upsets him. Meanwhile, a procession of raiders comes through the village and slaughters everyone around, and only leaving the bride-to-be alive after being raped, but her entire family murdered, Cheng takes pity on her and decides to help her and bring the raiders to justice … by using his skills and his blade. There will be blood.
Short at only 78 minutes, Eye for an Eye ends abruptly, but for the most part it delivers with a simple story, decent action that comes in fits and spurts, and a hero that might be a little underdeveloped, but still appealing in the mold of Zatoichi. There’s no comedy or levity at all, though, so if you’re looking for a straightforward samurai-style story, this one has the goods. From director Bingjia Yang, who also scripted.
Well Go USA’s new release of Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman is out now on DVD and Blu-ray, and the disc comes with an English language track, and the trailer, plus other trailers.
