Author: Andrew Skeates

Not for the fainthearted but for fans of hard-edged cop action films from the golden era of Hong Kong, this is tough to beat.

Slicker and swifter this time around, ‘Samurai Wolf II’ is still some dark, fight filled, chanbara entertainment but is perhaps unnecessarily complex and convoluted for its own good.

Short but sharp samurai flick from an early on in his career Hideo Gosha, ‘Samurai Wolf’ still packs a punch despite its short running time and being almost 60 years old.

A sort of mix between ‘Freaky Friday’ and ‘Face/Off’ but with a lot bloodier horror and grimness, ‘Devils’ is some tough, grue splattered, body-swap thrills.

Coming with a boatload of deserved hype, ‘Godzilla Minus One’ really does live up to the love that has been showered upon it.

Not as saturated with action as some of its ilk of the time but a solid gangster gambling drama nonetheless with the two leads at the top of their game.

‘The Wandering Earth II’ is a marvel from a technical point of view and solid hard sci-fi that this time around manages to flesh out characters and story, all the while delivering epic scaled action.

A heady mix of slick, pulsing beat-backed visuals, violent action and a descent into a dark criminal underworld.

‘Beach of the War Gods’ is a fantastic vehicle for its star and his supporting cast to showcase heaps of wickedly staged old-school fight action.

Slick, stylish and stuffed with a surfeit of violent fight action, ‘Kill Boksoon’ is a superb tale of stylised action and a protagonist attempting to leave their violent profession behind.

Crazy cult classic that lives up to its mad-as-a-bag-of-frogs rep, ‘The Seventh Curse’ is some delicious Hong Kong Category III madness.

‘Illang’ looks fantastic, often thrills, and features some incredible and expertly staged action but suffers from pacing issues and a lukewarm emotional core.