Fong Sai-yuk (1993)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Fong Sai-yuk (1993)

Jet Li revives another classic Chinese folk hero for modern audiences with a spirited performance as Fong Sai-yuk, the real-life happy-go-lucky kung fu wunderkind whose life was serialised in wuxia literature and later on-screen by the Shaw Brothers. Despite their strong moral compass and expert martial artistry, Fong is far removed from Jet Li’s other cinematic alter-ego, Wong Fei-hung, popularised by Tsui Hark in his Once Upon a Time in China series. Fong Sai-yuk is mostly played for laughs, and succeeds effortlessly in all departments.

Plots run parallel. One, in which Fong enters a kung fu tournament at the behest of …

Read More

Swordsman II (1992)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Swordsman II (1992)

Tsui Hark overhauled his initial concept for this wuxia franchise following the difficulties making the first Swordsman film. Instead, he follows up with a hyperactive sequel complete with a new cast and crew encouraged by the overwhelming success of Once Upon a Time in China. Tsui borrows many of the players from that franchise for this movie, including Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan and Yen Shi-kwan. He even recruits wire fu auteur Tony Ching Siu-tung to direct and the results are majestically irreverent, even by Tony Ching’s esoteric standards (he did, after all, make A Chinese Ghost Story).

Ling and Kiddo return …

Read More

The Swordsman (1990)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
The Swordsman (1990)

Before Tsui Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China series sparked a resurgence in kung fu pictures in Hong Kong, it was Tsui Hark’s The Swordsman which would rejuvenate the stagnant wuxia genre with vibrant wire-work, fast editing, schizophrenic story-telling and more than a little song and dance. Taking a year to complete, this dogged production – loosely based on Louis Cha’s novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer – saw original director King Hu leave the production after only a few weeks following disagreements with Tsui, leaving Tsui and his team to take over in the director’s chair. He relocated the crew from …

Read More

Once Upon a Time in China III (1993)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Once Upon a Time in China III (1993)

Although this is nowhere near as good as the other two, part three of this amazing franchise does have some great moments, although few and far between. The Empress dowager tries to restore national pride by holding a lion dance competition, only to have it quashed by martial madman Chiu Tin-bai (Chiu Chin) who is keen to annihilate the competition. Wong Fei-hung steps in after his father is beaten down by Chiu’s nutty henchman Clubfoot (played by former Jet Li stunt double, Hung Yan-yan) and the stage is set for a big kung fu showdown. The lion dance sequences are …

Read More

Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986)

Revenge is the theme for this third Shaolin Temple movie with Shaw Brothers veteran Lau Kar-leung brought in to add a fresh dynamic, utilising the Chinese scenery to great effect as well as maintaining a steady stream of kung fu action. The story is not too dissimilar from the first film with the same actors appearing in similar roles. Jet Li plays an enthusiastic Shaolin boy desperate to take revenge for the murder of his parents at the hands of a corrupt government. Befriending a pair of similarly embittered fighters, Jet and company unite to take on those responsible. Lau …

Read More

New Police Story (2004)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
New Police Story (2004)

A calculated move from Jackie Chan, returning to the seminal franchise which made his name internationally in an attempt to regroup his initial fandom scarred – if only slightly – by a lackluster string of Hollywood paychecks. He gives everything to this. He even sings the theme tune.

Benny Chan is a dab-hand at this kind of blockbuster (see Who Am I? and Gen-X-Cops); a righteous police thriller which stinks of morality almost as much as gunpowder and burning tires. Indeed, it seems the whole of Hong Kong has closed for the occasion, with Jackie using many of the city’s most iconic, …

Read More

The Medallion (2003)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
The Medallion (2003)

If you leave your brain ticking during this action romp then you’re heading for trouble. The story to this supernatural twaddle is completely unfathomable. Jackie Chan‘s talents are misused once again by Hollywood, but at least this is better than The Tuxedo, if only marginally. There are no surprises to the buddy formula in which Chan supplies the action and British stand-up Lee Evans provides his Norman Wisdom-style of pratfall comedy. Flashy computer graphics take over when a kid possessing a special medallion (which is said to gift the wearer superhuman strength and immortality) is abducted by a psychotic Julian …

Read More

Rush Hour 2 (2001)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Rush Hour 2 (2001)

This blockbuster sequel kicks off in Hong Kong, before flying back to Los Angeles and staging a grand finale in a Vegas casino. Lee (Jackie Chan) and Carter (Chris Tucker) return to their usual culture-clash buddy cop routine to chase Hong Kong triads on their home turf. Then there are the sub-plots: one, in which John Lone plays an ice-cool gang leader who has killed Lee’s father; and another involving Roselyn Sanchez as an undercover servicewoman playing off the affections of the film’s central double act. Then there’s Crouching Tiger‘s Zhang Ziyi in a vampish supporting role as a lethal …

Read More

Blade of Fury (1993)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
Blade of Fury (1993)

Blistering historical action from Sammo Hung who also cameos as a burly bodyguard. There’s a great tournament sequence, plenty of theatrics, political corruption and rapid-fire sword fights as Ti Lung plays a Chinese nationalist fighting to overthrow a corrupt government. Besides decapitating a whole line of adversaries in a single stroke (which is quite something), our hero also contends with a crafty nobleman with deadly drunken spear skills, and teaches a room of young hopefuls the correct path to enlightenment. Slightly confused and silly in places, the film’s exuberance is nevertheless astonishing.

Read More

The Blade (1995)

Posted in Reviews
No Comments
The Blade (1995)

Tsui Hark’s bleak take on the 1967 Shaw Brothers classic, One Armed Swordsman. The savage beating of a Buddhist monk at the hands of a group of bandits acts as the film’s first foray into unpleasant territory, and sets the tone for the rest of the picture. Blacksmith Vincent Zhao is eager to end the group’s reign of terror following the death of his father at the hands of the bandits’ tattooed leader. The young fighter loses his bid for revenge and has his arm hacked off. But he proves to be a more persistent and potent fighter with only …

Read More
« Previous Page
Next Page »