Genre: Drama

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.

It’s certainly a noble effort and a refreshingly grown up horror movie but unfortunately, ‘The Uninvited’ is just a little too serious in its intentions to be a thoroughly satisfying spooky tale.

‘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.

If you enjoy some bloody mayhem then it’ll definitely suffice, but it’s highly likely that the majority of viewers will find that there just isn’t enough meat in this bun to truly satisfy.

‘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.

‘The Villagers’ is a fine action-thriller, tackling darker themes while still being able to weave in humour and pathos. Highly recommended.

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.

Despite a rushed prologue setting up what is going on and the issues Liu and his son have, the filmmakers have still created an incredible futuristic and lived in world with a combination of slick CGI and colossal sets.

‘The Wandering Earth II’ is a marvel from a technical point of view and solid hard sci-fi that this time around manages to flesh out characters and story, all the while delivering epic scaled action.