Genre: Martial Arts

‘Big Brother’ is a wasted opportunity. It is enjoyable enough for its duration, but every scene seems like it’s been pinched from the genre book written with Dead Poets’ Society strokes.

‘BKO: Bangkok Knockout’ delivers pretty much exactly what you would expect; a non-stop rollercoaster ride of brutally brilliant fight scenes housed in a sorry excuse for a movie.

‘Black Belt’ could well be a cult hit that influences those who follow it. It is not a flawless masterpiece, but its differences – as well as its similarities – make it a work that is worthy of its popularity.

While the original was essentially a remake of Luc Besson’s ‘La Femme Nikita’, ‘Black Cat II’ is more a straightforward action flick, with a little bit of ‘Terminator’ thrown in.

There is a degree of drama in this story of redemption but it’s not constructed with any great care and can hardly make up for the lack of sparkle in the choreography.

The action is still impressive, and deserves 4 stars, but the direction, annoying camera work and lack of real plot drag it down into the 3 star category.

‘Black Mask 2’ could be seen as Hark’s interpretation of what appeals to a global audience or maybe he just watched one too many episodes of ‘Power Rangers’ before production began.

Along with all the sweet kickboxing action the flick crams in a fair chunk of graphic gore and a surprising amount of drama for a low budget B-movie.

‘Blade of the 47 Ronin’ is slick albeit silly fun that rightly plays everything just earnest enough to be taken seriously but having fun with the hokey concept of Samurai’s running around modern Budapest fighting evil witches.

‘Bleeding Steel’ starts with promise and then refuses to flesh out any of the plot details, leaving us bewildered shortly after our interest had piqued.

A straightforward martial arts film it may be but is all the better for it and features a great cast, blistering fight scenes and proves that sometimes old school is the best school.

Director Teddy page made a ton of these action clunkers back in the day and while it’s far from his best it does boast Karen Shepherd in a lead role kicking lots of ass.