The Vengeance

I've seen a bunch of these mid-long Chinese martial arts flicks over the past two years, and it still one big lottery for me. The Vengeance turned out to be one of more accomplished ones, though its attempts to tell a more elaborate and intricate story come with their own set of challenges.

Yuan Rui is about to get married, but what should become a happy day turns into a massacre. Her entire family is murdered, everyone except Rui, who is saved by a masked man. All she can think of is revenge, but she isn't skilled enough to take on her assailants. Luckily, she gets help from a friend.

The presentation is neat, the martial arts scenes are polished, the sets look somewhat more expensive and the slightly longer runtime (still well below 90 minutes though) gives the director more time to flesh out the plot. It's not quite as dynamic as the shorter efforts, but martial arts/fantasy fans will find plenty to like here.