An Entertaining One Time Watch
Summary
Blind War has an incredible opening sequence, but the rest of the film struggles to match it; Andy On is phenomenal and Yang Xing nearly steals the movie as the villain Cena who we almost root for while also hating her. It’s definitely worth at least a one time watch as it is not without its fun moments.
Plot: Capt. Dong Gu suffers from permanent visual impairment caused by a botched mission. He comes out of retirement after his nemesis returns and threatens to harm his daughter.
Review: Blind War is essentially Daredevil meets Taken but not quite as good as either; the opening 15 minutes is the highlight of the entire film with a court room under siege from criminals which escalates into a massive shoot-out. The film never quite reaches those heights again but it’s still an entertaining action picture with plenty of fights and a high bodycount.
Andy On is on top form as a cop called Dong who disobeys orders and goes into the courtroom, but the situation does not end well. During a showdown with the criminals, he loses his eyesight and is forced to leave the police force disgraced.
On gives a tortured performance as Dong, who struggles with his new disability but eventually embraces it and uses his other senses just like Daredevil. Dong essentially suffers a mental breakdown and is only calmed when he hears his daughter playing the violin; when she is kidnapped Dong vows to find her no matter what it takes.
As great as Andy On is in this movie it could be argued that Yang Xing nearly steals the show as the villain Cena who blames Dong for the death of her husband. She tricks him into thinking she is a cop but is using him for her own means while planning her own revenge. Cena is certainly unhinged and yet I found her such a compelling character that she was arguably more interesting than Dong.
I find Blind War a little frustrating as there is a jarring tonal shift any time the Detective Rama is on screen where he becomes this comic relief character and even has “comedy” music when he does something dumb to remind us that he is “funny”. He isn’t and it takes away any of the urgency and drama we are meant to feel as Dong tries to find his daughter.
The action is well staged and at times satisfyingly violent but it’s never as exciting as it is in the opening sequence which has a genuine feeling of chaos. The finale is the cliched race against time trying to defuse a bomb which is predictable and something we’ve seen many times before.
It’s hardly terrible and is for the most part well-paced with Andy On giving one of his best performances; I just wanted there to be more memorable action scenes aside from the introduction.
Overall, Blind War starts off with a bang but ends with a whimper never quite living up to that explosive opening scene. It certainly has its moments and Andy On gives an excellent performance but the comedic relief was a poor choice and caused a jarring change in tone which took me out of the movie. It’s worth a one time watch at least and is streaming on Hi-Yah! now.