Genre: Martial Arts

Starts out as a fairly happy-go-lucky comedy but eventually culminates in an all action finale that is surprisingly violent for a film of this ilk.

‘Challenge Of Death’ was always going to provide some exhilarating action thanks to the collection of captivating combatants, but the story certainly leaves a lot to be desired.

Despite the fact that ‘Challenge Of The Masters’ hasn’t aged as well as some of Liu Chia-Liang’s other notable works, there’s undoubtedly much on offer for genre fans and the casual cinema-goer.

An excellent set of combat sequences strung together with little reason but to get the adrenaline pumping.

The narrative is fairly crisp, but cannot make the action any less ‘American’ in its pace and imagination (or lack of!).

While it’ll never scale the heights of its Hong Kong counterparts of the day, this fast and fun sequel still delivers the Rothock, Norton and Cooke action goods.

‘Chinese Zodiac’ gives Jackie Chan fans (including me), who had been awaiting its arrival especially eagerly, very little to get excited about.

‘Chocolate’ is excellent action entertainment from start to finish, and fight fans will be delighted to see that Pinkaew and Rittikrai haven’t lost their touch.

Even the action becomes monotonous by the time the tournament begins and there’s probably as much genuine Choy Lee Fut on display as there was in ‘Pretty Woman’.

The pace of the feature is not as consistent as it needed to be, but Wu Ma makes sure that there is enough reasons to remain interested.

All in all, this film has little to recommend it unless you are a big Cynthia Rothrock fan.

The combination of wacky humour and Chan’s superior comedic timing make ‘City Hunter’ a lot of fun to watch.