Released: 2018
Director: Clayton J. Barber
Run Time: 45 Minutes
Not Rated
Genre: Short Film/Action
Cast:
Eric Jacobus: Walter Cooke
Roger Yuan: Gordon
David William No: Ace
Joe Bucaro III: Sal
In this day and age of super-long 2.5+ hour films, it’s really easy to overlook the short film. Don’t get me wrong: I love a good and long epic film, but sometimes you just need something short and to the point. Short films range anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes to an hour at most. Depending on the kind of film you want to make, sometimes you really don’t need anything longer than that. It allows for less filler and padding and allows the film-makers to focus on what they want to do. Short films have been around as long as regular movies, and sometimes they can garner more attention. Short films, aside from length, are like any other movie. They can range in quality from bad to good, and I’ve seen my fair share of both, as I would imagine we all have. When it comes short films and indie action flicks, there’s a name I would like you all to consider: Eric Jacobus. Why? I’ll tell you in a bit.
Blindsided: The Game is a short film starring Eric Jacobus as Walter Cooke. Walter is blind, and yet he manages to make his way to a nearby convenience store to shop. One day, he comes into the shop to find that the store-owner is being accosted by a group of thugs demanding money. After humiliating the thugs, Walter heads home. It turns out that these thugs work for a local crime boss, Sal, who the store owner owes money to. That’s the gist of the story, and for a 45 minute film, it works quite well. You can tell that there are some obvious influences from films like Blind Fury and Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman. It doesn’t mock these films, far from it. In fact, it feels a bit like a love letter to these classic films, and I mean that in the best way possible.
I bring up Eric Jacobus in the intro because this guy is extraordinary. He’s a very talented martial artist and stunt-man. He founded the group The Stunt People back in 2001 with a number of other martial artists and stunt-men. This guy has knack for surrounding himself with top-notch talent that can be seen on display on his YouTube channel and the various films that have been released. Not only can this guy do his own stunts and fight choreography, which tends to be better than most theatrically released films, by the way, he’s got charisma to match. He’s known for playing some really likable characters and Blindsided is no different, except this time, he plays a blind guy. I tell you, if they ever decide to do another Daredevil film, they need to hire this guy for the role. A lot of the folks that star in this film have a background in stunts and/or the martial arts, so there’s no shortage of talent. The guy that plays Sal, Joe Bucaro, has been in the industry and doing his own stunts for over 30 years. The other guy that really stands out in this film is Roger Yuan, who is very well-known in the industry as an actor and stunt man himself. Roger has worked with folks like Jackie Chan, Chuck Norris and Jeff Speakman.
The action in the film is wild and it’s infused with a sense of humor, as Eric Jacobus tends to do in a lot of his movies. The opening fight sequence with Walter and the thugs is pretty wild. Using a blind man’s walking stick as a weapon is surprisingly entertaining to watch. Now, where Blindsided begins to feel like Zatoichi and Blind Fury is when Walter whips out his sword. This film features some of the best sword choreography I’ve seen in a long time, and that’s thanks to Luke LaFontaine, who did the choreography. I love the action sequences in this film, because the film doesn’t rely on shaky-cam or extreme close-ups which have been known to ruin action movies. Thankfully, the cinematography and camera-work here is second-to-none. We can see everything that’s going on. I don’t know about you, but being able to see fight scenes clearly is a good thing, and Blindsided knocks it out of the park.
As it stands, Blindsided is not only a sharply-written film, but it does provide some very memorable action sequences and some pretty decent performances as well. Overall, I would have to say, I would recommend checking this film out. So…..when’s the next Blindsided short film coming out?
My Final Recommendation: Never underestimate blind people. They could kick your ass. 9/10
Official Trailer: