Genre: Thriller

Not even the odd moment of black humour and Kim Jee-Woon’s knack for crafting exhilarating sequences of action and tension can elevate his film beyond pure nihilism.

‘Illang’ looks fantastic, often thrills, and features some incredible and expertly staged action but suffers from pacing issues and a lukewarm emotional core.

A partial remake of ‘Eyewitness’, the flawed, but diverting 1981 William Hurt/Sigourney Weaver thriller, ‘In Between Loves’ starts with promise only to quickly lose it all.

Van Damme puts in a very strong leading performance and Lam helps elevate some mediocre material to a much higher status.

No Category III classic assuredly, but certainly a pleasantly sexy diversion that makes for pain-free viewing.

The film has one of the best stories I’ve seen in quite a while and the cast and crew all produce some of their finest work to date.

The result is every bit as slick as viewers have come to expect from the film-makers, but severely lacking in genre staples like tension or excitement.

Entertaining for the most part and certainly packed with fight action, the film unfortunately suffers from muddled execution of its own brilliantly bananas concept.

‘Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler’ is a unique and very entertaining film if you can get on board with its offbeat vibe and characters. Different but good.

‘Kickboxer 5’ is far from perfect but it remains a solid action outing that is boosted by the inclusion of such a physically adept leading man.

It’s certainly a cut above the standard potboilers and, while it may not stand the test of time, it deserves more recognition than its harsh initial reaction gave it.

‘Kill ’Em All’ has a gem of an idea at its core but squanders it with needless flashbacks, unnecessary characters and terrible editing.