Release Year: 2022

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.

Undemanding fun that benefits from a likeable cast, a vibe that just wants to entertain, and lots of shiny fight action.

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.

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.

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.

‘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.

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.

‘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.

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.

‘The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’ is a big, unapologetic action film that borrows all of the pomp and bombast of its American contemporaries.

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.

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.