Cast Member: Lam Suet

This is a slickly made thriller that achieves most of the objectives it sets out to accomplish.

Despite eschewing all the trappings of a big budget thriller, ‘Saving Mr. Wu’ is still a tense and perhaps even thought-provoking production.

There’s some very powerful visual displays of violence that pepper the film throughout, showing us that if you turn to the dark side you really will become slave to its master.

The production cannot sustain its appeal nor can it do justice to the grand themes of loneliness/love that it attempts to tackle.

‘Sparrow’ is the archetypal Curate’s Egg, a film that fuses together precious few moments of brilliance with a heavy dose of lethargy, rendering the finished article difficult to digest.

Thankfully this low-budget Hong Kong drama has enough going for it to sidestep its lazier moments.

‘The Era Of Vampires’ fails to capitalise on a concept that could have turned out to be a solid film given enough care. It does raise interest from time to time but is unable to sustain that interest.

Though ‘The Great Magician’ recalls films like ‘The Prestige’ and ‘The Illusionist’, Derek Yee’s offering is much lighter in tone.

If ‘The Invincible Dragon’ had just embraced its barmier B-movie aspects and run with them, then this could have been a fun throwback to action films of yesteryear.

‘The Legend Is Born: Ip Man’ does not try to outdo the spectacle of its more lavish inspiration, though Herman Yau does try to give the viewers the ample Wing Chun action they crave.

Within this wonderfully crafted and thoroughly satisfying film is enough reasons to have full assurance in the future of Hong Kong cinema.

Fairly tame fun that will easily appease the ADD generation who are hooked on special effects. Go into it with that frame of mind and it’s likely that you’ll find an adequate time filler.