Headshot (2016)

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Headshot (2016)

Savage Indonesian action from The Raid star Iko Uwais and his stunt team. If you found the stabby, close-up scrapping of The Raid hard to stomach, then this will certainly test your threshold for brutality. This is the type of film in which the ‘hero’ smashes someone’s head to bits with his bare hands, and a guy pulls a machete out of his own face. It’s grisly, but it’s also too over-the-top to ever be truly shocking. It also lacks the fluidity and imagination of The Raid‘s more calculated action scenes. Until the final act, that is, when Iko and …

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John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

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John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

Loud, visceral, stylish sequel which picks up shortly after the events of the first film, with John Wick (Reeves, exultant) reclaiming his car from the chop shop using knives and fists and bullets. He barely has time to feed his new dog before aspiring Machiavellian tyrant Santino (Scamarcio) visits his home to issue John with a new assignment. He initially refuses, but then Santino blows his house up. The assignment takes John to Rome, where it quickly becomes apparent that his retirement plans might be somewhat delayed, as a price is put on his head and soon every assassin in …

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The Duel (2000)

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The Duel (2000)

Andrew Lau’s succession of high-concept, big-budget special effects extravaganzas (The Storm Riders, A Man Called Hero) hits a glossy brick wall with this mumbled mix of comedy, action and romance. A handsome cast perform an Imperial conspiracy in fantasy China, set against a backdrop of a duel between master swordsmen Andy Lau and Ekin Cheng. The visual effects are quite something. Andy Lau’s Hovering Heavenly Angel Stance involves firing electric bolts of energy, while Ekin Cheng is offered a wonderful sequence in which a line of statues come to life. The eventual duel of the title sees the film’s leads …

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The Bare-Footed Kid (1993)

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The Bare-Footed Kid (1993)

A remake of Chang Cheh‘s 1975 film Disciples of Shaolin with fight choreography by Shaw Brothers legend Lau Kar-leung. This is a breezy, almost polite, kung fu yarn with a potent message about the corrupting influence of money and power, and how it can jeopardise friendships, charity and compassion. All of the performances are top dollar, unlike the film’s flimsy and limited choice of sets. Cantopop singer Aaron Kwok is convincing in the Fu Sheng role as a sprightly yet destitute orphan boy with profound kung fu capability. He is adopted into Maggie Cheung’s philanthropic dye factory, where she provides food, work …

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Martial Law II: Undercover (1991)

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Martial Law II: Undercover (1991)

A straight-to-video follow-up to Kurt Anderson’s distinctly unremarkable 1990 cop fu actioner, this time with TV star and taekwondo expert Jeff Wincott in the lead – his first role as a martial arts hero. He’s pretty good, and more than capable at delivering his lines as well as kicking people in the head. He plays Chad McQueen’s role from the first movie, Sean Thompson – also known as ‘Martial Law’ (although nobody actually calls him that) – sniffing out corrupt cops in the LAPD who are on the books of a shady nightclub owner. His cop girlfriend, Billie (Rothrock), is …

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The Great Wall (2016)

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The Great Wall (2016)

This is an odd choice of film for Matt Damon; a genuine Hollywood A-lister in a CGI-laden cross-cultural creature feature, who seems to have suspended his usual charm and charisma for a stint as a stiff, nondescript western mercenary in Song dynasty China. Along with a fellow European chancer and comic foil – played by Game of Thrones star Pedro Pascal – the duo are taken hostage by a sect of the Imperial army known as the ‘Nameless Order’, and thrown inside the castle-like fortress of the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall is the last line of defence …

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Eliminators (2016)

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Eliminators (2016)

Pacy British thriller in which Scott Adkins plays an American single dad whose house gets raided by drug thugs who get the wrong address. With his young daughter in danger, Adkins reveals his secret service skills and swiftly takes out the criminals, leaving blood and brains on the walls. The plot slowly unravels to reveal Adkins’ FBI past and his links to a known arms dealer called Cooper (James Cosmo), who sends a Terminator-like assassin (WWE star Stu Bennett) to deal with him. Adkins’ two run-ins with Bennett are both meaty encounters, with the former wrestler administering all manner of take-downs …

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Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)

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Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)

Given the chequered history of Street Fighter on the big screen, fans of the computer game were due another decent shot at the source material. This isn’t quite the movie it wants to be, spoilt by an uneasy balance between urban realism, wire fu and computer-generated fireballs. But focusing on the parallel origin stories of both Chun-Li and M. Bison (two of the game’s most identifiable characters, outside of Ken and Ryu) is a worthy concept, even if the resulting film is mishandled. Clean-cut Smallville star Krisitin Kreuk never quite nails Chun-Li’s revenge-driven, murderous side, busily working through her daddy …

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Goodbye, Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death (1975)

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Goodbye, Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death (1975)

In 1976, the US distributors of this film (originally titled The New Game of Death) were at the centre of a lawsuit involving the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection for selling the film as a genuine Bruce Lee vehicle. A disclaimer was later added to all subsequent publicity claiming the film to be a ‘tribute’. Viewers in the west in the early 1970s who were unaware of Bruce Lee’s scant cinematic career can be forgiven for being duped by this deliberately ambiguous piece of Bruceploitation, given its crafty title and meta premise. It starts with scenes involving the professional Bruce Lee imitator, …

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Dressed to Fight (1979)

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Dressed to Fight (1979)

One of those kung fu movies which appears to have been made up on the spot. This weary film has Tien Peng playing a nobleman attempting to go steady with his former childhood sweetheart, only for him to face a number of enemies from his warrior past. Friends become foe in a messy narrative which unfolds quite confusingly, while attempts to form some kind of supernatural element is, unfortunately, never fully realised. The high-wire fighting, trampoline stunts and flying daggers are all pleasingly kooky, but this is nothing too out of the ordinary.

AKA: Dragon of the Lost Ark; The Legend …

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