All Film Reviews

The film may be spliced together from three other features, but it somehow manages to find just the right mix of cheese and top-notch action to make it more than watchable.

If you have a strong stomach for bad cinema or are just a sucker for films from the IFD era then it may well be worth adding to your collection.

If you’re happy to laugh along with it then you’ll still find something to appreciate, but a kung fu classic this is not.

Although the plot may be somewhat lacking, ‘Ninja Vs. Shaolin Guards’ remains a very entertaining outing thanks to a wealth of well crafted kung fu fights.

No doubt those who need oodles of story/plot/narrative to justify enjoying a film will grumble (yawn!) but on the whole this is a superior sequel and a super-charged martial arts film.

‘No Blood No Tears’ may not be a film for all tastes, not least due its violent nature towards women and the slightly laid-back pace but it is a challenging and rewarding film as well as an entertaining one.

There may not be much here that we haven’t seen before, but it’s certainly been a while since we’ve seen most of it done so well.

Chen Wen Pin and his on-screen daughter are excellent in the films two most important roles, bringing a humanity to characters who represent a sad underclass in Taiwanese society.

It’s far better than other American style martial arts movies such as ‘China O’Brien’, ‘American Shaolin’ and the like, showing what can be done if a little extra time is taken over the choreography.

Surprisingly, for an American film, there are some well executed and imaginative fight sequences predominantly showcasing the excellent kicking skills of Avedon.

Plenty of fight sequences, which are high-tempo, well choreographed affairs, if a little short by Hong Kong standards.

A rather unremarkable and unsatisfying debut from writer and director Song Neung-han, ‘No. 3’ is neither as funny as it thinks it is or as hip and entertaining as it wants to be.

‘Nobody Knows’ is worthy film-making, memorable well beyond its two hour duration and recommended to anyone seeking challenging, not necessarily uplifting cinema.

‘Nobody To Watch Over Me’ packs quality into every area, from the probing direction to a superb cast without a weak link among them.

It may be an award of distinction for a non-commercial director to have his film populated by bland, feckless characters and have them doing bland, feckless things, but for the viewer there’s nothing admirable about it.

While some of the humour may be of a particular taste and the tone a little too self aware for its own good sometimes, Thomas Cappelen Malling still fills his flick with stylish sequences and lots of little pokes at the ninja genre.

His film version isn’t quite perfect and unfortunately pales compared to the novel but it is far from disrespectful to the source material and is a better version than many may have expected.

‘Not One Less’ is slow-moving and starts awkwardly, but patient viewers will be rewarded with a very memorable Chinese production.

‘Now You See Love… Now You Don’t’ is engrossing and eventually quite touching.

Despite the often tough nature of the film, the unrelenting bleakness of the final third and some questionable plot devices, ‘Oasis’ is a film (unless you are completely black of heart) that stirs the soul.

It may not be the type of film that international Studio Ghibli fans have come to expect, but ‘Ocean Waves’ proves that the studio is just as capable of producing a winner in every genre.

Anyone searching for a traditional kung-fu flick that is filled with sublime choreography need look no further than this.

Perhaps not what one might be expecting from all those involved but nevertheless ‘Ode to Gallantry’ is another solid Cheh flick buoyed by a fantastic lead performance from Philip Kwok. 

‘Of Cooks and Kung Fu’ does feature some inventive action and a star in Jacky Chen who is adept at acrobatic fisticuffs.