Rusty Blade

Released from a 10-year prison sentence, “Monster Blade” Lin Dawei returns home, hoping to leave his mistakes behind. Fate, it seems, has plans of its own…

Westerns and Martial Arts movies go together like peas and carrots, and Rusty Blade really soaks in that shared mythical and romantic aesthetic. In the world of this film, it’s a dusty place, and the arid little towns are filled with sneering and dangerous men, thumbs hooked in their sword belts, worn low on their hips, as they swagger out into the street to that familiar place where the old rules still apply in the same way they did when Gene Pitney explained them to us long ago:

“When two men go out to face each other… only one returrrrrrns…”

Set during the Qing dynasty, Rusty Blade tells the story of a good man trying to provide for his family the only way he knows how… by the blade. But, while Lin DaWei is a lawman, times are tough all around, and the many criminals who have died on his sword have begun to weigh on him. He dreams of taking his wife and child away, far away, to a better life, one that is lived without a sword in his hand… So, when his boss sees a chance for them to rob a local crime lord and walk away rich, Lin reluctantly agrees. Unfortunately, things go south, some innocents die during the attempted heist, and Lin’s boss makes him the scapegoat, which sends Lin to jail.

Oh, the unfairness of it all.

Ten years later, Lin returns to find his family in dire straits, and his once beloved town is now filled to bursting with bad guys looking for trouble. But Lin has made a vow, he has buried his sword, and he intends to leave it buried, but, well… you can probably guess what happens after that.

“Fate is an illusion, for nothing in this world hasn’t happened before.”

The disappointing thing about this film is that quote isn’t just the credo of the swordsman in Rusty Blade, but it seems like it’s the guiding mantra of the whole film too, because while Rusty Blade deftly mixes the iconic tropes of American Wild West movies and Chinese Swordplay movies, it doesn’t actually bring anything new to the screen while doing it. The fights are awesome, sure, they’re definitely fun to watch, but there’s just no denying that it’s all in service to a plot where you know exactly what is going to happen at all times.

In the end, Rusty Blade is just a bit too dull.