Reviews
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Speed Dating
‘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.
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The Battle At Lake Changjin II
The film veers between harrowing war bloodshed and comic book daredevil action and while it never shies away from the horrors of war the film is always entertaining: certainly, from an action standpoint.
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Too Cool To Kill
Xing Wenxiong’s delightful remake of ‘The Magic Hour’ retains the charm and wit of the original, but makes some key changes to improve it.
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The Magic Hour
‘The Magic Hour’ is a fun comedy, though not the classic it promises to be. It still has an enormous amount to recommend it though and is a good starting point for those looking into Japanese comedy.
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The Princess
Essentially the story of a princess locked in a tower by an evil wannabe ruler, the flick gets down to brass tacks right out the gate: fast and furious fight action.
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Mulan
While proceedings do get a little dry and flat on occasion, for the most part this version of ‘Mulan’ is a well-made and entertaining epic that never resorts to heavy-handed storytelling.
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The Invincible Dragon
If ‘The Invincible Dragon’ had just embraced its barmier B-movie aspects and run with them, then this could have been a fun throwback to action films of yesteryear.
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Escape Of Shark
‘Escape of Shark’ is a remake of Australian thriller ‘Bait’ which, while not a masterpiece either, is several notches above this effort.
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Carter
Joo Won and the stunt people do give it their all and there are some creative sequences on show, but it doesn’t quite come together into a satisfying whole.
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Song Of The Assassins
The quality increases as the film progresses and the viewer is more invested in the characters, meaning that it stands out as one of the more exciting swordplay films of recent years.
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Blood Chase
Director Teddy page made a ton of these action clunkers back in the day and while it’s far from his best it does boast Karen Shepherd in a lead role kicking lots of ass.
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Ip Man: The Awakening
‘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.
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Incantation
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.
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Hit Team
Penned by prolific director and writer Wong Jing, ‘Hit Team’ is a formulaic cop thriller done on a low budget, something that makes itself very apparent early on.
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Ultimax Force
‘Ultimax Force’ has it all really: great B-movie title, lots of ridiculous moments that defy logic, unintentionally hilarious acting and a heap of cool action.
Best New Films
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The Witch: Part 2. The Other One
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Too Cool To Kill
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The Princess
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Song Of The Assassins
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Incantation
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Nightshooters
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Spiritwalker
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Escape From Mogadishu
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Shaolin And Wu Tang
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Midnight
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A Distant Cry From Spring
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Exit
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The Attorney
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Fish Story
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The Paper Tigers
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Drive My Car
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Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes
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The Medium
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Hell Hath No Fury
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New York Ninja
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Blade Of The Immortal
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Breakout Brothers
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Keep Running
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Raging Fire
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Roh
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Wild Search
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The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion
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Time And Tide
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Shock Wave 2
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One-Armed Boxer
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The Swordsman
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Deliver Us From Evil