Ruthless blind bounty hunter Cheng Xiazi (Xie Miao) also goes by the fearsome name, Ghostkiller. He’s also a consummate killer and tracker, his rapidly growing successfully completed bounty hunting bringing him that step closer to affording a life-changing eye operation. However, a chance encounter with a local restaurant owner Ni Yan (Gao Weiman) puts his bounty hunting on hold as he swears to avenge the injustice Yan has suffered. About to be married, Yan and her family are attacked and most of them slain by a violent gang. Cheng’s strong moral compass stops him moving on and he vows to right the wrongs Yan has experienced, unleashing his rage and impressive sword skills to get revenge for her and her family.

With more than a touch of the ‘Zatoichi’ series about it ‘Eye for an Eye’, while not wholly original, is slickly made, breezy fun at a swift 77 minutes, and features a smattering of decent sword-based action. It’s all completely predictable as Cheng sets out to set things right, taking on various bad guys with his blind swordsman skills. The main characters are likeable, the villains effectively despicable and while there isn’t a ton of character development or complex plot progression, proceedings do at least flesh out the backstory of Cheng showing him as a badass soldier (where he honed his ace fight skills) and how he was blinded in combat.

The action is creative and clearly staged and cut, albeit relatively brief. Just as things are getting going the action is either all over far too quickly or cuts away just as it’s getting interesting. Somewhat frustrating but perhaps a wise and effective choice in some regard: a blind warrior who has learnt to take out opponents quickly and ruthlessly rather than engaging in sustained combat. The film is also a decent starring vehicle for one-time child star Xie Miao (Jet Li’s ‘The New Legend of Shaolin’ and ‘My Father is a Hero’) as he makes for a convincing Zatoichi-like warrior.

Watchable, slickly made, potboiler with a dash of decent action, ‘Eye for an Eye’ may not set the genre on fire (though has done well enough to warrant an upcoming sequel!) but is an unfussy and mostly entertaining quick fix of blind warrior swordplay action.