Genre: Action

Strong performances, intelligently filmed action and an all round aura of quality mean that this comfortably hits a four star rating.

Nominated for an Academy Award and sweeping the board at the Japanese equivalent of ‘The Oscars’, Yoji Yamada’s lyrically, tenderly woven tale of dignity is a triumph of substance over action.

‘The Twin Swords’ isn’t the type of Shaw Brothers production that will appeal to everyone, mainly due to its fairly dated style that lacks the superior fight choreography.

Despite what flaws ‘The Twins Effect’ has, it never actually suffers as a result of them as it always retains the viewers interest and successfully juggles comedy, action and horror.

As Donnie Yen says at the film’s conclusion “The future is in the hands of these young people” – on the evidence of ‘Twins Effect II’, this isn’t a comforting thought.

A typically weak affair that is made all the more confusing by Godfrey Ho’s random dialogue and vague attempts at creating a story.

‘The Unity of Heroes’ is a slipshod update of the Wong Fei-Hung myth, a film wholly lacking in not only chemistry but also everything else that made the Tsui Hark chapters so influential.

‘The Unmatchable Match’ is a good example of an unremarkable synopsis getting better as the film takes hold. For a pre-comedy Chow vehicle, this is nothing for the Cantonese superstar to be ashamed of.

‘The Valiant Ones’ really does deliver on its promise of a group of gifted fighters going after a never-ending swarm of rampaging pirates and fighting them all to the death.

‘The Victim’ is a fine mixture of action comedy and even drama – three elements that director Sammo Hung juggles with masterful dexterity.

As much a twisty-turny drama as an all out action flick, ‘The Villainess’ overdoes both its noble attempts at gritty drama and action technical wizardry.

Lam certainly throws a lot in and the tone does vary but thanks to the confident staging and the unrelenting momentum it all works for the most part.