All Film Reviews

Although it is undoubtedly still an enjoyable arc from the show, the decision to make ‘Gintama: The Movie’ a collection of existing episodes feels somewhat disappointing.

Not the best Hong Kong exploitation flick out there and far too lethargic and serious to recommend as over-the-top fun.

Though ‘Girl With The Diamond Slipper’ has a fine finale and some excellent physical comedy throughout, the decidedly flat middle section eats away at the viewer’s patience.

The film itself is relatively well paced, shoehorning in equal helpings of genuinely amusing comedy set-pieces and soft-focus “cheeky moments”, seemingly flittering by in what feels like no time.

Any way you approach it, the multitude of flaws inherent within ‘Girl$’ outweighs its handful of pluses and it remains a (sadly) vapid entry within its given sub-genre.

While ‘Glass Tears’ is a solid debut for Carol Lai, it has a few signs of directorial immaturity within it.

Chen Singsing’s film is a gentle and often realistic portrayal of humans dealing with grief and loneliness.

It is a true genre-defining classic that will go down in Hong Kong cinema history as one of the greats.

Much like a television movie version of ‘God of Gamblers’, but stripped of many of the elements that made the original work, this 2020 unofficial update is low budget and low entertainment value.

The film has neither the charm or magic of the original ‘God Of Gamblers’ and fails to competently put together a back story that is worthy of its hero.

With lazy writing and weak comedy, ‘God Of Gamblers II’ often feels like little more than a typical Wong Jing cash grab.

Just when you thought the ‘God Of Gamblers’ series was dead and buried, Wong Jing somehow manages to find a pretty nifty way of bringing it back.

In the Kaiju genre, ‘Godzilla’ is a stone cold classic. The original monster movie is still a dark delight and essential viewing for anyone into Kaiju movies or Japanese cinema.

Coming with a boatload of deserved hype, ‘Godzilla Minus One’ really does live up to the love that has been showered upon it.

While it may not be as strong as the original, ‘Godzilla Raids Again’ is still an immensely fun ride that first showed the world exactly what would happen if two giant monsters decided to throw down.

Chances are, if you’re a fan of Japanese war history or the Goemon legend, you’ll be pleased as punch with this update. Even if you’re not, Ninja action has never been so beautiful.

A delicate tale told with such heart-warming precision that its running time glides by unnoticed, ‘Going To School With My Father On My Back’ is exactly the kind of film that illustrates how valuable world cinema is.

Working with what is probably a minimal budget by Hollywood standards, Chin Ka-Lok fashions quite an impressive action film, complete with international locations and slick looking set-pieces.

Ultimately, it is Joe Don Baker that makes ‘Golden Needles’ worth tracking down; it’s by no means his best work, but he’s always great to watch.

It does contain just enough bad kung fu movie clichés and shots of Yeung Huei-Chie in hot (or no) pants to keep you watching.

O Sing-Pui cooks up a stew of heavy-handed comedy, eroticism, romance and horror to send everyone home happy.

‘Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon’ seems to do so much right that it makes me wonder why this wasn’t the start of a series of films.

‘Golgo 13: Queen Bee’ is a short and not particularly sweet film that fails to make effective use of one of the coolest Japanese characters around.

‘Golgo 13: The Professional’ is a truly genre-defining anime classic that is as exciting today as it was back in the 1980s.