The Eye
Release Date: 2003
DVD Encoding: Region 1
Rated R

Have you ever been to the video store to rent a movie, read the box, get home with it all excited, and then find out that it’s in Cantonese with English subtitles?

Let us begin this review of The Eye by saying that we have! Grumble, grumble, grumble.
Anywho...as Ying Ying once said, “The world is a beautiful place.” Especially when littered with the spirits of the restless dead.

And who better to enjoy that beautiful world than the young violinist, Mun, who soon realizes this very fact after a cornea transplant restores her sight that she hasn’t had since the age of two.

Too bad that soon after her transplant the “shadowy man” comes to snatch away her dear friends and neighbors as they lay dying. Or after losing their report cards and chucking themselves out open windows (oh, how I love the Chinese educational system).

Forgoing the rest of the story’s plot, (if you’ve seen Sixth Sense, you’ve seen The Eye—sort of) the movie offers some high points:

About two-thirds of the way through the movie, a warm sense of accomplishment washes over you as the language becomes clear and you realize that you have learned Cantonese. However, this moment of clarity is short lived as the beautiful language fades back into garble.

Also, in one scene, Wah (her doctor) and Mun have a long conversation while in a taxi, but the whole conversation takes place telepathically. For at least two minutes they talk without ever moving their mouths! We must say, superb ventriloquism.

Furthermore, there are some good scenes of death and destruction (always a plus for you stereotypical males). But they are few and far between.
The good thing about this movie is it makes you value your eyesight. Keeping that in mind, skip the movie. Watch the birds fly or paint dry or mold grow on some cheese. In the end, this will be more enjoyable and you’ll feel like a better person for having done so.