How does a blind man hunt bounty when he doesn't know what the bad guys look like? LOL. The fight scenes are pretty good. I really liked how he broke the eneimies or killed them. The acting is good and the storyline is ok. As one woman said to the blind man, there is a lot of unjust things and he can't undo them all. So why help this one woman? The fight scene where the takes out his sword was great. But if you are the bad guys and you see him slice and dice through a few guys already, why would you still try to attack him? You think you are better then the guys he just killed? I don't think so. I would be running away as fast as possible.
5 Reviews
The Start of a decent Martial Arts Movie Series
kluseba4 January 2024
Eye for an Eye, originally known as Mu Zhong Wu Ren, is a Chinese martial arts film inspired by the legendary tales of Zatoichi. The movie entertains with sympathetic characters, wonderful fight choreographies and beautiful settings through seventy-seven short but concise minutes. A sequel is already being worked upon which underlines this film's commercial and critical success. Director Yang Bingjia is a newcomer to the genre and already manages to deliver the goods with the first feature film. Lead actress Gao Weiman is also new to the cinematic industry and delivers a balanced performance propagating values such as loyalty and resilience. Lead actor Xie Miao has already been working on several great genre films in the past such as The Taking of Tiger Mountain and The Thousand Faces of Dunjia and his experience shows when portraying a character who is ruthless in his martial arts style but ethical in his decisions.
The story revolves around blind, calm and ruthless bounty hunter Cheng Xiazi who comes to a new town. He is coincidentally invited to the wedding of restaurant owner Ni Yan. However, the wedding turns into a nightmare when the lady's rebellious brother shows up. A group of thugs appears soon afterwards and massacres the family as well as the wedding guests. Only the restaurant owner and the bounty hunter survive. Cheng Xiazi decides to intervene to help Ni Yan and avenge her murdered wedding guests.
This movie convinces on several levels. As mentioned previously, the female and male lead characters have enough depth to build an entire movie series upon. Blind bounty hunter Cheng Xiazi has a strong moral compass and protects those who are alone, desperate and struggling. Restaurant owner Ni Yan delivers the goods as underestimated young lady who exemplifies loyalty, resilience and strength. Viewers will care about the fates of these two fascinating characters who are incarnated by experienced male actor Xie Miao and a promising young actress Gao Weiman whose name should certainly be remembered.
The fight choreographies are certainly stunning. Don't make the mistake to expect clumsy, repetitive and slow fight scenes just because the lead character is blind. The opposite is actually the case since Cheng Xiazi is constantly underestimated and thus defeats his opponents with grace, rapidity and skill. The different types of fighting styles as well as actual and improvised weapons used throughout the film will keep viewers entertained from start to finish.
The settings of Eye for an Eye are also definitely above average and bring ancient China back to life in an authentic manner. This includes rural landscapes as well as urban settings. While many contemporary Chinese movies overuse special effects which make movies taking place in the past look like video games from the last decade, this film here keeps the settings simple but real. This approach adds atmosphere, authenticity and depth to the film.
This movie however also has a few minor flaws that keep it from being considered an excellent or even perfect genre film. First of all, the idea to base a movie around a blind martial artist isn't new at all. The movie can't rival with the creativity of the Zatoichi movie series from the sixties and seventies that you should definitely watch if you appreciate this film.
Up next, the film's story is quite predictable. An underestimated martial artist supports an innocent damsel in distress and defeats a clan of ruthless criminals. This concept has been used time and again in martial arts film but also in numerous other genres such as westerns. Don't expect any creative twists or turns when watching this movie.
While the movie has no lengths whatsoever, the total running time of seventy-seven minutes is nonetheless particularly short, especially when purchasing a physical version at full price. The sympathetic main characters and intriguing side characters would have deserved some more screen time for sure.
At the end of the day, Eye for an Eye, originally known as Mu Zhong Wu Ren, is a good to very good martial arts film with profound characters, excellent fight choreographies and authentic settings. Genre fans should certainly give this movie a chance and look out for its upcoming sequel. It has been some time since a decent martial arts movie series has been around, so the release of this movie feels like a welcome breeze of fresh air.
The story revolves around blind, calm and ruthless bounty hunter Cheng Xiazi who comes to a new town. He is coincidentally invited to the wedding of restaurant owner Ni Yan. However, the wedding turns into a nightmare when the lady's rebellious brother shows up. A group of thugs appears soon afterwards and massacres the family as well as the wedding guests. Only the restaurant owner and the bounty hunter survive. Cheng Xiazi decides to intervene to help Ni Yan and avenge her murdered wedding guests.
This movie convinces on several levels. As mentioned previously, the female and male lead characters have enough depth to build an entire movie series upon. Blind bounty hunter Cheng Xiazi has a strong moral compass and protects those who are alone, desperate and struggling. Restaurant owner Ni Yan delivers the goods as underestimated young lady who exemplifies loyalty, resilience and strength. Viewers will care about the fates of these two fascinating characters who are incarnated by experienced male actor Xie Miao and a promising young actress Gao Weiman whose name should certainly be remembered.
The fight choreographies are certainly stunning. Don't make the mistake to expect clumsy, repetitive and slow fight scenes just because the lead character is blind. The opposite is actually the case since Cheng Xiazi is constantly underestimated and thus defeats his opponents with grace, rapidity and skill. The different types of fighting styles as well as actual and improvised weapons used throughout the film will keep viewers entertained from start to finish.
The settings of Eye for an Eye are also definitely above average and bring ancient China back to life in an authentic manner. This includes rural landscapes as well as urban settings. While many contemporary Chinese movies overuse special effects which make movies taking place in the past look like video games from the last decade, this film here keeps the settings simple but real. This approach adds atmosphere, authenticity and depth to the film.
This movie however also has a few minor flaws that keep it from being considered an excellent or even perfect genre film. First of all, the idea to base a movie around a blind martial artist isn't new at all. The movie can't rival with the creativity of the Zatoichi movie series from the sixties and seventies that you should definitely watch if you appreciate this film.
Up next, the film's story is quite predictable. An underestimated martial artist supports an innocent damsel in distress and defeats a clan of ruthless criminals. This concept has been used time and again in martial arts film but also in numerous other genres such as westerns. Don't expect any creative twists or turns when watching this movie.
While the movie has no lengths whatsoever, the total running time of seventy-seven minutes is nonetheless particularly short, especially when purchasing a physical version at full price. The sympathetic main characters and intriguing side characters would have deserved some more screen time for sure.
At the end of the day, Eye for an Eye, originally known as Mu Zhong Wu Ren, is a good to very good martial arts film with profound characters, excellent fight choreographies and authentic settings. Genre fans should certainly give this movie a chance and look out for its upcoming sequel. It has been some time since a decent martial arts movie series has been around, so the release of this movie feels like a welcome breeze of fresh air.
Give another eye to the director..
raznarukus24 April 2024
This was a good movie, it is worth watching and follows the rest of the Zatoichi plot lines that we have seen in other "blind swordsman" movies. The acting was better than average and the main characters played their part well, the fight scenes were great and well choreographed BUT the directing was missing something. Its not that it was bad but maybe its was just too 4k for me. If this would have been shot with the same grittiness as Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, I think it would have looked better and gave the film a different feel.
It's worth the watch for the fight scenes. If you have already seen this film you know why I mentioned Ong Bak 2 ... kaw kaww...
It's worth the watch for the fight scenes. If you have already seen this film you know why I mentioned Ong Bak 2 ... kaw kaww...
A hidden gem!
mr-clark9313 April 2024
Warning: Spoilers
I just stumbled across this movie. So much intensity in the action scenes; the drama & story was very very captivating. This could have easily been at least a 2 hour movie with more extended history of the hero. I would love to have scene at some backdrop of his few journeys as a soldier/general and how exactly his site was lost. Oh and especially some type scene when he meet or paths crossed with General Guo (apologies if spelled incorrectly). Also, a brief scene with the brother & evil gang during there tomb robbery & murder. Also, a little history of the hero female companion from his past in the military. Very gud movie. I will be watching it a few more times.😁
Eye for an Eye
BandSAboutMovies7 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Directed and written by Bingjia Yang, this is the story of blind swordsman and bounty hunter Cheng the Ghostkiller (Xie Miao). With each kill, he gets closer to being able to pay for an operation to give him sight. Yet he also wants justice to exist and he helps Ni Yan (Gao Weiman), a bride accused of murdering her own brother after being assaulted at her wedding, for personal reasons.
Obviously borrowing from the Zatoichi series -- which also inspired Blind Fury -- this movie looks gorgeous and has some great visual style when it comes to the fight scenes. You may wonder if a blind swordsman should look so good when he's slicing the competition into ribbons, but these are not the things you should think about. You should sit back and enjoy the seventy-seven minutes of fast action and a plot that actually is pretty decent.
This movie was successful enough that there's already a sequel.
Obviously borrowing from the Zatoichi series -- which also inspired Blind Fury -- this movie looks gorgeous and has some great visual style when it comes to the fight scenes. You may wonder if a blind swordsman should look so good when he's slicing the competition into ribbons, but these are not the things you should think about. You should sit back and enjoy the seventy-seven minutes of fast action and a plot that actually is pretty decent.
This movie was successful enough that there's already a sequel.
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