Gorgeous (1999)

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Gorgeous (1999)

Still sailing from the phenomenal success of his first major American hit (Rush Hour), Jackie Chan’s return to Hong Kong is an instantly forgettable rom-com designed as a cash cow for a Chinese New Year audience. Shu Qi plays a naive Taiwanese beauty whose quest for true love takes her on a journey to Hong Kong in response to a message in a bottle. This leads her into the open arms of Chan (Jackie Chan), a millionaire businessman who has “never had many friends”. Chan’s stock market interests lead him into danger with his corporate friend Lo (a great turn …

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Bodyguards and Assassins (2009)

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Bodyguards and Assassins (2009)

Although the story of how Sun Yat-sen led a republican uprising which would eventually see the end of dynastic rule in China is quite well known, this highly romanticised and emotive film has been designed as a tribute to those forgotten martyrs who paid the ultimate price. The film may not work in a scholastic sense but it is always entertaining. At times, Teddy Chan makes the 1906 arrival of Dr. Sun in colonised Hong Kong look like a taut heist thriller, and the battle for his protection descends into relentless kung fu carnage with flying daggers and arrows, teams …

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King of Beggars (1992)

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King of Beggars (1992)

Stephen Chow’s first period-set comedy went up against Police Story 3 at the Hong Kong box office and smashed it convincingly. He plays the privileged idiot son of a Ching dynasty general who falls immediately in love with Sharla Cheung, who has been working undercover as a prostitute to lure out the evil Mr Chiu (Norman Chu), a Manchurian magician determined to kill the Emperor and put his own evil cult in power. In order to win her heart, Chow embarks on a quest to win a nationwide martial arts competition. But he is found to have cheated on the …

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John Wick (2014)

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John Wick (2014)

Chad Stahelski and David Leitch’s directorial debut (the founders of 87Eleven Action Design) is one of the best action movies of recent times. They land the audience in an established criminal underworld with minimal histrionics and a superb lightness of touch. The film hints at a wider, expansive ‘universe’ beyond its rather simple cat-and-mouse premise, and although the plot may be simple, it is executed with great wit and style. Their distinguished careers as fight choreographers and stunt coordinators informs every frame in this beautifully made film, equally indebted to the gun fu of John Woo, the brutality of The Raid, …

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Who Am I? (1998)

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Who Am I? (1998)

Jackie Chan plays part of a Special Forces unit sent into deepest Africa to kidnap scientists working on a volatile new weapon formed from meteorite fragments. The raid is a disaster and the team perish in a helicopter crash, except for Chan, who is taken in by a nearby tribe and nursed back to health. Once he has recuperated, Chan is discovered to have developed amnesia, and a quest to uncover the truth begins. Shot in South Africa and Holland (the truncated tribal section is a particular highlight), this globe-trotting Jackie Chan adventure is one of his better nineties outings. …

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Shaolin vs. Lama (1983)

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Shaolin vs. Lama (1983)

Fantastic kung fu movie from Lee Tso-nam (Eagle’s Claw, The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious), highly regarded in fan circles not only for its sublime action but also its notable story centred around the quest for spiritual (and physical) enlightenment. It can also be read as a study on the contradictory role religion plays in the balance of admonishing evil and the need to show mercy. Similarly to the Christian divide of Catholic and Protestant, the film depicts a violent opposition between Chinese Shaolin monks and a rebel group of Tibetan Buddhists; although the film is never in doubt as …

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Skin Trade (2014)

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Skin Trade (2014)

This really should be much better given the high calibre of talent involved. It’s the sort of clichéd cop thriller Dolph Lundgren would have made in the 1980s with much of its clunky dialogue, bad acting and exploitative content dating from the same period. Only Tony Jaa breathes life into a moody film with his refreshing lead role – his first in English, although he’s not required to say much. Lundgren is a cop on the hunt for the Russian family behind a global people-smuggling operation. He gets too close to Ron Perlman’s accented kingpin that his wife and child …

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Of Cooks and Kung Fu (1979)

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Of Cooks and Kung Fu (1979)

There are a number of kung fu movies championing crazy, innovative stylistic creations to differentiate themselves from bucket-loads of other titles, everything from Chess Boxing to Drunken Fist to spiritual fighters, ‘sleeping style‘ and ‘emotional kung fu‘. This champions the unique style of cooking kung fu – “known only to chefs!” according to the dubbed mid-Atlantic introduction. Jacky Chen throws his arms around shouting out popular dishes – “fish balls!”, “beggar’s chicken!”, “flying chopstick!” – aptly demonstrating his so-called ‘kitchen style’ kung fu taught to him by his moody granddad – the former King of Chefs. He was once the …

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Five Fighters from Shaolin (1982)

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Five Fighters from Shaolin (1982)

A kung fu movie in two halves. The first hour sees a laughing monk (Mark Long) recruit a traveling band of wastrels (a brother and sister duo; two annoying cooks; a fat guy with a cart) to join him in creating a self-sufficient Buddhist commune in the shadow of the Shaolin temple. The film picks up once the ensemble develop their kung fu skills. Chen Shan becomes star pupil, gymnast Yau Ming-yin works out on a pommel horse, and Lin Yu-zhen, being the only girl, is left to do all the house work. Then a white-haired Jack Long drops in …

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Seven Steps of Kung Fu (1979)

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Seven Steps of Kung Fu (1979)

There’s trouble brewing in a sleepy Chinese village. The Five Hand Gang are assembling, much to the chagrin of Master Li (Ga Hoi), who doesn’t care much for the gang and uses his plucky kung fu pupil Tiger (Ricky Cheng) for a spot of reconnaissance work. The baddies are in league with a governmental traitor played by Chen Shan in white hair and robes, so Li teaches Tiger the Seven Steps style (a sort of Snake Fist hybrid which requires Tiger to walk on his hands and crush eggs in a field) to methodically start picking off the gang one …

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