All Film Reviews

Many of the fight sequences are powerful and realistic, and there is a good balance between cinematic choreography and outright simple bloodshed.

You really feel a lot of the hits in this film which is all in all, a hugely enjoyable action flick, jam-packed with trademark Woo Ping fight scenes, thankfully sans wires!

The plot is all over the place and covers all areas mentioned in my opening paragraph, but as ever, it is only there to give people a reason to fight.

A good but not great film, as visually it works beautifully, but the pacing of the direction conflicts with the pace at which the story actually develops.

A palpable sense of all-consuming dread is maintained throughout the runtime and the makers never resort to jump scares just for the sake of them.

‘Incredible Kung Fu Mission’ is peppered with a decent mix of humour, sentimentality and superior fight action, creating a solid independent feature.

‘Incredible Shaolin Thunderkick’ is ineptitude on an almost apocalyptic level.

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 linear narrative and lack of real danger in the story may limit what would otherwise be a sure-fire hit.

By no means a classic action comedy, ‘Inspector Pink Dragon’ nonetheless succeeds in providing a entertaining 90-odd minutes.

Bizarre for the sake of it just doesn’t work and without anything solid to juxtapose it with, ’Instant Swamp’s initial laughs soon wear thin.

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.

Ultimately, ‘Invincible Enforcer’ proves such a hit or miss affair that it’s not hard to see why it has remained virtually unknown to international audiences since its release.

Chang Cheh weaves intrigue into the plot along with a clear sense of humanity and even humour.

The action is slick and just about gets the balance right between computer effects and practical choreography, while the cast are appealing.

Hard hitting action reminiscent of old school Hong Kong actioners, solid performances and sleek direction makes ‘Invisible Target’ one of the years best action flicks.

If you’re an action fan you won’t be disappointed and for me, this is Donnie Yen’s best film to date from an acting perspective.

This fourth go around for Yen and director Yip with the Ip saga is as solid as ever from the duo but pales in comparison to the first two instalments.

‘Ip Man And Four Kings’ leaves gaping holes in an already threadbare plot while taking even the simplest of character development as an ordeal.

At a swift 80 minutes ‘Ip Man: Kung Fu Master’ fairly throttles along trying to cover as much early Ip Man history as possible as well as cramming in as many fight scenes as it can.

‘Ip Man: The Awakening’ may not be remembered in the great canon of Chinese folk hero cinema, but as a solid offering that clocks in under ninety minutes, this is recommended.

Herman Yau’s conclusion to the story deserves its place among its contemporaries. And any film with Anthony Wong giving his all is well worth adding to your collection.

While ‘Iron Angels’ may not be the best Hong Kong action film from the city’s movie heyday, it’s certainly a benchmark in the battling babes genre.