Genre: Fantasy

‘New Kung Fu Cult Master’ isn’t a great film, maybe not even a very good one, but there’s enough strengths here to make you eager to watch the second part.

It’s watchable (though don’t dare take your eyes off it for a moment or you’ll miss at least three dramatic revelations) and confidently put together, but satisfying as a conclusion to the big story it is not.

While it clearly still has a number of issues, ‘Ninja Apocalypse’ remains a fairly entertaining low-budget action romp that is worthy of at least one watch.

‘Oh! Yes Sir!!!’ could have perhaps been more appealing if there had been added emphasis on the action or a little less smuttiness in the humour.

Not to everyone’s tastes, could have been a little shorter and hardcore Yen fans may be let down by the lack of dynamic hand-to-hand combat but ‘Painted Skin’ is still a stylish slice of fantasy filmmaking.

‘Painted Skin 2’ ramps up the CGI spectacle and melodramatic romance, all but forgets the action and excitement and thus is a rather hollow but undeniable pretty to look at fantasy.

‘Ponyo’ is yet another strong Hayao Miyazaki movie that is as uplifting and enthralling as ever.

A fantastical story filled with a meaningful narrative and superb characters. Truly another masterpiece from the mind of Miyazaki.

Despite the slick visual look, kooky set up and a little too much reliance on wirework and CGI enhancement come the last third, ‘Raging Phoenix’ is really what we loved about the fight flicks from Hong Kong’s golden age.

There is quite a lot going on in ‘Re-cycle’ for both the eye and mind and while its perhaps a bit too ambiguous for its own good it’s probably a film best viewed a couple or several times to fully appreciate and digest.

Fast, fresh, funny and full of character and tension, this is wuxia done well and should be seen by fans of the genre at their earliest convenience.

Overall the film, much like its hero, has a low budget ramshackle charm that manages to entertain for the duration but wont leave you thinking about it the next day.