Country: China

‘The Emperor and the Assassin’ is a minor masterpiece and comes highly recommended, though it should be stated that this is not a film for everyone.

‘The Final Master’ does have some knockout moments though and the climax in particular is full of the kind of crisp, clean and measured choreography that looks so good on the screen.

Very 1980s in its tone, a factor which adds to a lot of the fun, ‘The Forbidden Kingdom’, is flashy and harmless and shows the two Hong Kong stars still have charisma to burn.

Classy, tense, complex and delivering some fine tuned action scenes: ‘The Foreigner’ is a well crafted film that gives Chan one of his best roles.

ordon Chan can certainly do entertaining fantasy action but the various elements of ‘The Four’ just don’t gel meaning there are moments of fun but on the whole it’s all just a little dreary and long winded.

‘The Great Wall’ packs in a monster amount of large scale action as Damon, Jing et al take on the horde of monsters in ever increasingly elaborate ways.

Anyone hoping for an exciting big-budget version of the well-known character will be sorely disappointed by this merely functional cinematic rendition.

Chan fans may be disappointed he’s not the main focus but he does feature in an inventive scrap with Schwarzenegger and overall there is some cool action on offer.

A film that comes very highly recommended, especially to those who enjoy watching cinema that stirs the heart.

Once it settles down and the MacGuffin doesn’t become the sole focus of the story, ‘The Legend and Hag of Shaolin’ becomes an enjoyable homage to early 90s Hong Kong cinema.

Eschewing any flashiness for a more old school and care given to character and pacing approach, Chong and Mak craft a beautifully shot and finely acted period piece.

It is an elegant, richly designed and photographed tale of love from beyond the grave that rarely bothers itself with the imagery or shock-tactic clichés of the genre.