Genre: Crime

Non stop, expertly put together fight scenes, ninjas back on the screen and two leading men cutting loose with intensity and slick fight moves, make ‘Ninja’ a hugely enjoyable ride.

This is certainly not a flick for mainstream critics and while it could have eased up on the over stylisation of the action, ‘Ninja Assassin’ is still a big, bloody hoot.

As far as IFD productions go, ‘Ninja Dragon’ is hardly their finest hour and is really only suited to hardcore fans of the genre. Those of you seeking a sane slice of cinema would be advised to look elsewhere.

No doubt those who need oodles of story/plot/narrative to justify enjoying a film will grumble (yawn!) but on the whole this is a superior sequel and a super-charged martial arts film.

It’s far better than other American style martial arts movies such as ‘China O’Brien’, ‘American Shaolin’ and the like, showing what can be done if a little extra time is taken over the choreography.

A rather unremarkable and unsatisfying debut from writer and director Song Neung-han, ‘No. 3’ is neither as funny as it thinks it is or as hip and entertaining as it wants to be.

‘On The Run’ is a superb effort from Biao and a welcome change of pace for an actor who is so often seen as just the “little brother” of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.

It’s a pleasure to see Jordan Chan given a lead role in a major production and his cowardly cook is a delightful antithesis to ‘Chicken’ from the series that made his name.

John Woo really surprised the audiences with this mixture of acrobatic gunplay action and comedy.

The master stroke is of course the incorporation of Yuen Woo Ping as fight choreographer and he serves up some of the best fisticuffs of recent years.

Lam has made better films but, along with Benny Chan, he is at the forefront of Hong Kong action in terms of delivering large scale spectacle.

While ‘Overheard’ was an excellent homage to the great American conspiracy films of the 70s, the in-name-only sequel is a more routine two hours with a far less incisive denouement.