There’s a long history of the blind swordsman in storytelling, though the style of action-oriented martial arts films are often referred to as within the subgenre called “zatoichi,” itself a reference to the title character of a Kan Shimozawa story from 1948. This genre has extended to American stories like Blind Fury (1989) and The Book of Eli (2010) and, most recently in China, Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman (目中无人) from first-time feature director Yang Bingjia with Ip Man: The Awakening’s Tse Miu in the lead role. It’s a story we’ve seen numerous times, so it’s always a matter of whether or not it delivers on the expectation. Thankfully, Eye for an Eye only incites a call for action against the violence within the story, giving audiences the martial arts action with the cool and calm protagonist at its center.
Tse Miu as Cheng Yi in EYE FOR AN EYE: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Cheng Yi (Tse) is a bounty hunter known as a “ghostkiller,” hunting down only those whom the local officials tag for ransom and reward. While on his way to collect for a recent job, he stumbles into a situation in which a young girl, Ni Yan (Gao Weiman), is accused of murdering her own brother in retaliation. Recognizing this to be a lie, Cheng decides to get involved, unaware that the truth of the situation stretches beyond this one town and into the darker corners of the land.
R: Gao Weiman as Ni Yan in EYE FOR AN EYE: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
While Awakening left much to be desired, Eye for an Eye doesn’t disappoint, offering engaging, creative action and a storyline that, while expected, manages to make one still care about the outcome. The script by Bingjia starts in a gambling house, a seemingly odd place for a story featuring a heroic figure, but this choice does two things: it establishes that Cheng is not a white hat and that being blind doesn’t mean he’s helpless. That second part made all the more concrete through the action sequence that occurs right before the opening credits and backstory are provided. Interestingly, for a film running roughly 76 minutes, most of it is character work with fights being brief in their execution and peppered throughout the film. On the one hand, this will frustrate those who enjoy fisticuffs, especially when executed by someone whose on-camera skills do impress (specifically Tse), but their brevity speaks to a larger point of strength and power in combat. By keeping the action sequences from growing too much, there remains a sense of intensity about them while also establishing just how much of a fearsome challenger Cheng is to those who continually underestimate him. Luckily, the script does include a few moments in which Cheng is challenged, a mix of expected vs not, so Cheng doesn’t walk away untouched. But, even then, there’s not a moment in which the audience, thanks to Tse, doesn’t believe in the skill and ferocity of the ghostkiller on a mission.
Tse Miu as Cheng Yi in EYE FOR AN EYE: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
The weaknesses of the film fall within the usual parameters for a film that operates within the framework of a bounty hunter that makes things personal: either something happens to them directly or to someone they know. In this case, it’s the latter with Ni Yan being the victim. Here, the script opts to make plain her victimhood where suggesting would’ve been enough, but it then grants to Ni Yan a warrior’s spirit that enables the character to not be reduced to victim/damsel. Some of this, of course, is due to Gao’s performance, which conveys lightness and love at the start and unfettered rage later, helping to convert the character from empty catalyst to a full-grown character. It’s not an issue, necessarily, that the film doesn’t deviate from a well-worn path or that there are moments in the action where it moves too swiftly to follow (vs. editing which conveys motion and impact), as what we observe is entertaining enough, but the lack of creativity within the larger framework does hinder Eye for an Eye from elevating itself above the usual action fare that this Hi-YAH! feature (released on the streamer in June) battles against for audience attention.
Gao Weiman as Ni Yan in EYE FOR AN EYE: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Though this is a home release, be advised that there’s nothing more than a single trailer for Eye for an Eye and three Well Go USA preview trailers included with this edition. An English-language track is also included if one prefers not to hear the film in its native language. On the bright side, the on-disc video and audio presentation is incredibly strong. It may only be a 1080p disc, but there’s a clarity to the picture that made the film possess a resonance when the action sequences called for it, whether a slo-mo moment or something at speed. It helps, I’m sure, that the review copy provided by Well Go USA was screened on my Panasonic 4K UHD player which upscales, meaning that the system tries to raise the on-disc data to match as close it can to the player’s capabilities, and on a 63” Sony 4K UHD television, thereby improving the visual elements a great deal in the reproduction. In terms of audio, there aren’t too many moments in the film in which immersion would take place auditorially, but the dialogue is clean, the score clear, and the ambient sounds balanced so that one never misses a piece of the dialogue to sound. Especially in a film like this one where sound is critical for Cheng’s success, that the home release includes such an unpolluted reproduction only enhances the enjoyment of the action.
If watching someone be a badass is your thing while they cut down fools who dare underestimate them, then Eye for an Eye is going to scratch that itch, plain and simple. It delivers no more or less than it promises and there’s something really comforting about that.
No bonus features included in the home release.
Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital November 28th, 2023.
For more information, head to the official Well Go USA Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman webpage.
Final Score: 3 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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