Release Year: 2017

‘A Loner’ is therefore a solid, thoughtful meditation on a traditionally Western problem that is now creeping into the affluent East, but should have been more than its good intentions.

Billed as Takashi Miike’s 100th film at the time of release, ‘Blade of the Immortal’ sees the enfant terrible deliver one of his best films of recent: both violently excessive and beautifully crafted.

‘Bleeding Steel’ starts with promise and then refuses to flesh out any of the plot details, leaving us bewildered shortly after our interest had piqued.

Director Fan Haolun seems to be more concerned with playing with flashbacks and flash-forwards than he is with constructing a story of any real depth.

The varied cast which includes Tse, Ge You and CN Blue member Jung Yong-Hwa make it an appealing 90 minutes of over-the-top cook-offs, snappy comedy and melodrama.

It’s nice to see Wilson and Rothrock back in action and there are some flashes of talent in amongst the fight scenes, but none of it is ever quite enough to overcome the film’s obvious faults.

There aren’t any surprises in ‘Duckweed’, but for a well made feel-good film it’s about as good as we’ll see this year.

‘End of Innocence’ won’t be counted among the great thrillers to come out of Asia in recent years, but it’s a more than competent effort and generates real tension before the credits roll.

Whether this is the beginning of the Esports film remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure – there’s definitely plenty of room for improvement.

‘Free & Easy’ is a moderately amusing one minute sketch stretching to feature length and you can feel every one of its ninety minutes pass as if they’re being pulled from your own flesh.

Those who give it a chance will be rewarded with a well made, at times thought provoking and overall entertaining version of a Japanese classic.

It may not be the most original fight flick around but ‘Jailbreak’ obliterates any flaws through its dedication to sating the most ardent fight fan’s want for excessive action.