Country: China

A searing action thriller about those on the lower rungs of society desperately trying to get their hands on a large sum of cash.

The casting of Andy Lau and Gong Li – and the inclusion of a somewhat wasted Russell Wong – added to a plush Beijing setting might make this a more appealing watch than first thought.

Granted, the environment in which this production was filmed is breath-taking and leaves a searing impression beyond the final frames. However, the storyline is strong enough not to be a slave to the cinematography.

‘White Vengeance’ – in keeping with the generic expectations of recent years – has big, bruising conflict aplenty and it’s those moments that tend to have the greatest impact.

A modern day western with some stellar action scenes and a distinctive setting memorably rendered on screen to create a unique action film.

Like many modern animations, it’s a very fast-paced and colourful affair that features an easy to warm to set of characters and some simplistic humour that is suitable for all the family.

Wu Jing’s second stab at directing, after ‘Legendary Assassin’, is an all guns blazing, military action, explosions riot.

‘Wolf Warrior II’ excels in delivering adrenaline charged, brilliantly choreographed, stunt filled action that should sate even the most rabid action fan.

‘Wrath of Silence’ builds up well after a slow start and, while not quite bringing the viewer to the edge of their seat, evolves into a more than decent mixture of arthouse aesthetics and nuts-and-bolts action.

With some excellent, grounded choreography and a number of allusions to genre legends this is a mature martial arts film that respects its roots.

Scraping to the 80-minute mark, proceedings propel along slickly (despite the low budget) bouncing between scenes of melodrama and furious fight action, with rarely a break for character development.

Too early for the post-‘Once Upon A Time In China’ boom and too late for the post-‘Shaolin Temple’ frenzy in 1981, ‘Zen Master 6’ is perhaps better appreciated all of these years later.