All Film Reviews

Hong Kong has always spliced genres together with aplomb, but this is an example of where things go wrong.

After a surge of period and fantasy styled films, Donnie Yen returns to modern day cop action territory in the somewhat schlocky but no less entertaining ‘Special ID’.

Much of the problem with ‘Speed Angels’ is its apparent contentment with clichés and a dogged determination to be utterly mundane.

‘Speed Dating’ is a fast and funny short blast of action-comedy that nicely sets proceedings up for a potential full-length feature – which would be very welcome.

Humour, heart and high-level animation all combine to make ‘Spirited Away’ an overwhelmingly rewarding and endlessly magical experience.

While far from perfect and lacking the polish that was applied to Chan’s later vehicles, ‘Spiritual Kung Fu’ is still a solid effort that has a distinctly old-school charm.

Slick and taught action thriller with a sci-fi twist, ‘Spiritwalker’ is a fine slice of modern Korean filmmaking that propels along on mounting tension, a committed cast and a fun concept.

A first class cop thriller, that despite it’s flaws and over dramatics is riveting viewing and shows Wilson Yip is one of the best directors working in Hong Kong at the minute.

Sticking with ‘SPL 2’ makes for an overall rewarding experience as director Soi Cheang takes the viewer on a wild, thrilling and at times incredibly dark ride.

It would take something quite exceptional to take such cliched elements and make them stand out from the crowd and while it’s an enjoyable feel-good film it’s not the kind of the production that leaves much of a lasting impression.

‘Spy Games’ is packed with 80s excess and ebullience, yet forgot to include the countless other elements that so many of its contemporaries included.

‘Spy Girl’ is broad, then at times subtle while also throwing together slapstick and satire in an interesting blend.

Despite never straying towards originality and unlikely to win awards, there’s still an admirable mixture of action and drama to commend.

This leans more towards the quick-cut close ups of more recent Hollywood efforts. Most of the fights are also glossed over as short “highlights” rather than letting us see the full action.

The final impression is that Otomo’s steampunk epic is much like a billow of steam: diverting for a while, but once it stops there is little indication it ever actually happened.

‘Still Human’ is everything that good Hong Kong cinema can be. It tells a good story without pomp, grounds it in reality and focuses on ordinary everyday folk.

‘Still Walking’ is mature cinema, thoughtful and deceptively powerful, another significant contribution to world cinema by Hirokazu Koreeda.

Alan Mak’s uninvolving film lacks a real narrative hook and an empathetic romance, but most of all it lacks the needed sentiment that covers a multitude of cinematic sins.

Street Fight is a decent attempt by some young filmmakers to make a tournament fighting film.

It is a stain on the ‘Street Fighter’ name and I would be extremely surprised if any of the people responsible had even heard of the game prior to making the film.

Even though the flick looks the part and is fun for fans, it just never seems to be as exciting as it could and should of been.

There is actually a story here and it is a surprisingly good one that manages to develop some emotional content behind the main characters as well as building upon the backgrounds laid down within the game.

Hollywood had fifteen years to learn from their mistakes and yet somehow they still managed to make another bad ‘Street Fighter’ movie.

A knockabout punch-up of a movie, ‘Street Mobster’ flamboyantly bloodies the audience’s nose with its raw brutality and antisocial behaviour.