All Film Reviews

The action is far superior to that of any American made film on ten times the budget, and shows Chan at his best shortly after the excellent ‘Drunken Master 2’.

The sheer energy and pacing of the film is undeniably invigorating and it is truly captivating to watch poor, unsuspecting Cheung fighting for his life.

‘Run Papa Run’ is a story we may have seen before with style that may initially be jarring, yet is ultimately delivered with aplomb.

Some of the more eccentric moments do inspire a wry smile, but nothing to fully salvage the end product.

It successfully manages to combine numerous genres to create a truly enlightening piece of cinema that shows just how unique Asian filmmaking can be.

This is as much about relationships than anything else and by the end of the film it develops into an unusual variant on the buddy genre.

This is a slickly made thriller that achieves most of the objectives it sets out to accomplish.

‘Rurouni Kenshin’ is resolutely pulp entertainment though and while it is unlikely to be mentioned in the same breath as ‘Yojimbo’ in years to come, it hits enough of its targets to satisfy.

As an action comedy, it is one of the best efforts to come out of Hollywood in recent years as not only is it laugh-out-loud funny, but the action is still 10 times better than anything else around at the time.

For the first and last 30 minutes I was truly impressed, and loved every minute although there was a short sag in the middle.

‘Rush Hour 3’ barely even passes as a competent movie and I think that it’s about time that Tucker (who never really had much talent in the first place) and Chan moved onto other things.

The setup is basically a showcase for star Kotik and various real-life Russian MMA fighters to cut loose in a series of elaborate fight scenes and confrontations.

‘Sacrifice’ is not going to find itself among Chen Kaige’s most revered films, yet it is still a classy almost operatic historical film that holds the attention.

‘Sad Movie’ is professionally executed with slick, expertly-lit photography and that Korean ability to use common emotional triggers without being quite so conniving as expected.

This is an unassuming, yet entertaining film that may not set the world alight, but develops its touching theme quite effectively.

A mix of historical drama, romantic melodrama, and frantic wuxia superhero charged action, Yen and his crew certainly go all out to create an epic and kudos to their ambition.

While the whole story and most of the acting is goofy-as-hell there’s no doubting the fun ‘Sakura Killers’ delivers, along with all the great ninja busting.

Only recommended for hardcore gore fans, those who have to see every film from this unique genre and if you are sitting around with a bunch of less critical film fans getting very drunk.

‘Samurai Warrior’ looks and feels cheap, and certainly shows no signs of any Miike-style magic. There’s also a real lack of meat in the story and the overall approach to structuring the film is a bad one.

Short but sharp samurai flick from an early on in his career Hideo Gosha, ‘Samurai Wolf’ still packs a punch despite its short running time and being almost 60 years old.

Slicker and swifter this time around, ‘Samurai Wolf II’ is still some dark, fight filled, chanbara entertainment but is perhaps unnecessarily complex and convoluted for its own good.

It’s rough around the edges to be sure, but there’s much to be savoured here; Kurosawa gets more out of this condensed 80 minutes than many filmmakers get from three hours or so.

Overall the film, much like its hero, has a low budget ramshackle charm that manages to entertain for the duration but wont leave you thinking about it the next day.

‘Satan Returns’ can’t decide if it’s a serious dark thriller or a goofy over-the-top action horror combo.