Reviews
-
New Kung Fu Cult Master 2
It’s watchable (though don’t dare take your eyes off it for a moment or you’ll miss at least three dramatic revelations) and confidently put together, but satisfying as a conclusion to the big story it is not.
-
Shadow Master
‘Shadow Master’ is some fight packed fright fun for the most part that sticks to its own path and certainly delivers some superb fight sequences for the fight film fans out there.
-
The Harvest
‘The Harvest’ is a slow-burning, independent take on inter-generational tension, focused on the patient reveal rather than the spectacular twist and in this way it feels much more relatable.
-
Project Wolf Hunting
The makers conjure an intense and propulsive energy that keeps the flick moving and engaging, mounting the action with innovative verve to deliver powerful action scenes.
-
Dreams
The narrative and sonic stylings lag behind the excellent visuals, and the film isn’t really more than the sum of its parts.
-
Ride On
For those of us who have grown up with Jackie Chan, this leaves quite an impression; it recalls an era of cinema, not just Hong Kong but worldwide, that will never be repeated again.
-
Hollywood Cop
While it does have its fair share of amusingly bizarre dialogue and cheesy action sequences, it also has quite a bit of uninteresting filler that regularly drags it down.
-
The Bullet Train
‘The Bullet Train’ delivers a lot of thrilling spectacle and drama nearly fifty years after its initial release.
-
The Big 4
Mixing tones and styles, ‘The Big 4’ is reminiscent of action films from Hong Kong’s glory days providing stunt-filled chaos to sate action junkies but plenty of laughs and heart in between the action to make us smile.
-
Spy Games
‘Spy Games’ is packed with 80s excess and ebullience, yet forgot to include the countless other elements that so many of its contemporaries included.
-
The Killer: A Girl Who Deserves To Die
With its refreshing 90-minute runtime and welcome 1990s action movie approach to delivering as many set-pieces as possible, ‘The Killer’ may lack overall character development, but it delivers stellar done-for-real action.
-
The Crazy Companies
It was a big box office hit on its release, features Chingmy Yau looking adorable and has some decent chemistry between the cast, but that’s not enough to drag the viewer through the ninety-minute running time.
-
Warriors Of Future
Finally arriving after those teaser trailers taunted us with big-budget rampaging robot action, ‘Warriors of Future’ may not quite live up to its barmy high concept, but it gives it a good go.
-
Broker
‘Broker’ is deceptively gentle in the same way as the tide is – constant, soothing and yet with a power to erode even the hardest granite with its motion.
-
Violent Streets
A tough film with many unlikable characters but a thrilling tale of gangster revenge that has lost none of its force over the past 50 years.
-
Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb
The comedy is hit-and-miss and as it takes up the majority of the running time, it slows the pace right down after a promising start.
-
The Witch: Part 2. The Other One
Park Hoon-Jung certainly knows how to craft action but he also imbues the film with a dark tone, slow build tension, and a subtly cool vibe that contributes to the atmosphere and world building.
-
Drunken Master Su Qier
The action ranges from the adequate to the quite good – hardly a ringing endorsement, I grant you – but suffers from that same curse of poor wirework.
-
Hunt
Perhaps too overly convoluted, po-faced and twist happy for its own good, ‘Hunt’ is nevertheless mounted with impressive verve and if one can forgive its flaws, is an exhilarating action charged political thriller.
-
New Kung Fu Cult Master
‘New Kung Fu Cult Master’ isn’t a great film, maybe not even a very good one, but there’s enough strengths here to make you eager to watch the second part.
Best New Films
-
Project Wolf Hunting
-
Dreams
-
The Bullet Train
-
The Big 4
-
Broker
-
Violent Streets
-
The Witch: Part 2. The Other One
-
Too Cool To Kill
-
The Princess
-
Song Of The Assassins
-
Incantation
-
Nightshooters
-
Spiritwalker
-
Escape From Mogadishu
-
Shaolin And Wu Tang
-
Midnight
-
A Distant Cry From Spring
-
Exit
-
The Attorney
-
Fish Story
-
The Paper Tigers
-
Drive My Car
-
Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes
-
The Medium
-
Hell Hath No Fury
-
New York Ninja
-
Blade Of The Immortal
-
Breakout Brothers
-
Keep Running
-
Raging Fire
-
Roh
-
Wild Search