Posted in: Blu-Ray, Movies, Review | Tagged: Eye for an Eye The Blind Swordsman, martial arts, Mo Tse, well go usa, Zatoichi

Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman is a Fun Wuxia Riff on Zatoichi

Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman is a wuxia movie that's a Chinese riff on Zatoichi and a labour of love by martial arts film artisans

Bless Well Go USA for picking up any Asian action and martial arts movie that looks good, or we would never have heard of Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman. Chinese martial arts movie artisans make it at the top of their game who definitely saw and loved Zatoichi.

Blind Meng, played by Mo Tse, is a blind bounty hunter with a mysterious past who hunts wanted criminals during the twilight years of the Tang Dynasty, where corruption and lawlessness spread across the provinces. He's gruff and rude, but when a young bride who gave him wine and food at her wedding sees her family slaughtered, he can't just walk away, especially when the killers are a powerful military family who have the local governments in their pocket. What do you think happens when a blind swordsman declares war on a whole army of extras led by some arrogant assholes?

If you like martial arts movies, it's impossible to watch Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman without being reminded of Zatoichi. The latter is. After all, it is a classic, the original blind swordsman movie that launched this whole tiny subgenre of martial arts swordplay movies. The tropes are the same. Everyone underestimates the blind swordsman, and those who pick a fight with him often don't live to regret it. Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman wears that influence on its sleeve, but instead of a wandering masseur and gambling who wants to be left alone, Blind Cheng is a surly, lethal bounty hunter driven by rage. At a modest 78 minutes, the movie carries virtually all the tropes from Zatoichi – Meng Yi visits a gambling den where they try to cheat him, then rob him, and you know how it ends for everyone. Like Zatoichi, the bad guys are corrupt and powerful and think they're untouchable until a lone swordsman wanders into town and kills them all with consummate and shocking skill. He also fights several master fighters and works out how to take them out. Unlike Zatoichi, the general vibe of Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman is darker, the world is harsher, the violence crueler, and the hero more ruthless than an amiable wandering gambler who's just living his life. Meng Yi has a terrifying demon who doesn't bother to hide it.

Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman does exactly what it sets out to do without any fuss. The cast, director, and action choreographer are all craftsmen making a martial arts movie as good as any out there in what feels like a labour of love. If you love action movies and martial arts movies, you will miss out if you don't see this unpretentious gem. The fighting is fast and surprising, the camerawork and lighting are atmospheric, unlike most Chinese TV dramas, and the tone is bracingly harsh.

Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman is available on VOD, Amazon Prime Video, and physical media.

Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman

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Review by Adi Tantimedh

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8/10

Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman is a wuxia movie that's a Chinese riff on Zatoichi and a labour of love by martial arts film artisans

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