Though it takes place in 17th-century Korea, rather than 19th-century Japan, Tae-yul (Jang Hyuk, a popular television actor and musician), the swordsman of the title, brings to mind Zatoichi, the blind blade-master of Japanese literature and cinema, including Takeshi Kitano's excellent 2003 Zatōichi. After suffering an injury while trying to protect Gwanghaegun, king of the Joseon dynasty, the former royal guard moved to the isolated hills above Seoul with his infant daughter, Tae-ok, where they've been living in peace for years. Now a spirited teenager, Tae-ok (Kim Hyun-soo) worries that her father will completely lose his sight. Flashbacks explain Tae-yul's relationship to Seung-ho (Jung Man-sik), the mysterious military official with whom he keeps crossing paths, and why Tae-ok's mother never makes an appearance. They're also a chance for debut writer-director Choi Jae-hoon to stage acrobatic fight scenes from Tae-yul's guard days, sequences that rely more on action than gore (Jang's martial arts training comes in handy here whenever he somersaults away from harm). When Tae-ok persuades her stoic father to seek medical assistance, they pay a visit to a monk who recommends a trading post that carries a healing herb. Tae-ok offers proprietor Hwa-Sun (Lee Na-kyung) a bundle of pelts in trade, but the medicine costs more than she can afford.
When the proprietor offers to introduce her to a wealthy woman who could use a caregiver, she thinks she may have found a solution, except her father worries more about losing his daughter than his sight, though Hwa-Sun assures her that they can also provide him with housing. His fears proved founded when ever-smiling Quing Dynasty slave trader Gurutai (Joe Taslim, Indonesian star of The Raid) and his ninja-like minions kidnap Tae-ok and several other women. First, they confine them in cages and cells, and then they plan to load them on a ship. Soon, like a cross between The Avengers' secret agent John Steed and Liam Neeson's ex-military man in Taken, Tae-yul un-sheathes his cane to reveal a sword with which he slaughters countless bad guys en route to save his enslaved daughter. Though the film positions him as a good guy, he ignores the pleas of a distraught father whose daughter has also fallen into Guritai's clutches, an unexplained bit of business that makes Tae-yul less sympathetic than Choi may have intended. For most of its run time, though, The Swordsman proves engaging and the production values are strong, though it loses a little steam as the director amps up the swordplay since there's a certain repetitiveness to it all. His first feature is at its best in the quieter moments between Tae-yul and Tae-ok, who enjoy a tender father-daughter rapport. A strong optional selection.