The Expendables 3 (2014)

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The Expendables 3 (2014)

The third Expendables film stockpiles big names like rounds of artillery. Rambo, He-Man, The Transporter and new addition Blade flunk their one shot at capturing former buddy Mad Max, who has now gone rogue as a shady arms dealer and is wanted for war crimes at The Hague by CIA chief Han Solo. The old guys can’t cut it anymore so the expendables are expended and replaced by younger blood – hackers, Parkour experts, mixed martial artists and Zorro (here being played by Puss in Boots), all hand-picked by TV’s Frasier. The new crew mix muscles with the geriatrics in …

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Looking for Jackie (2009)

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Looking for Jackie (2009)

A muddled family film designed to re-position Jackie Chan (or, rather, the Jackie Chan brand) as a spokesperson for Chinese youth. The film feels like a calculated, committee-driven byproduct of Chan’s closer affiliation with the government, but placing cynicism to one side, the message is wholesome enough. He teaches the doting boy at the centre of the film, who is desperate to be his disciple, that he should respect his elders, stay in school and learn Chinese for the betterment of the nation. Which is all fine, but there is a self-consciousness to the film which acts to spoil most …

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)

A sacred sceptre is unearthed which magically transports April O’Neill (Turco) back in time to 16th century Japan, where a war between rival families is tearing a small village apart. The green-skinned turtle teens promptly travel back in time to rescue her, and in the process they utilise their ninja slapstick to save the cowering townspeople and restore law and order. That is about as far fetched a premise as you could possibly hope to find, even for a Turtles movie. This third film never delivers the same quality of action or comedy outlined in the previous two films. Aside …

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

More childish stuff from the fab four, blessed with a larger budget and an even greater sensitivity. The film is less sinister than before, but the emphasis is still focused on fun and clean humour. Whereas the original latched on to two clear markets (the growing teenagers who first studied the 1984 comic books and the children who adored the family fun of the cartoon), this sequel establishes itself more firmly in the latter camp. It provides dumbed-down action and slapstick, stupid support from a couple of hilariously mutated muppets, and a song and dance finale with a cameo from …

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Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

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Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

A glorious, brave sci-fi film which is equal parts Star Wars and Serenity (think George Lucas but with Joss Whedon’s sense of humour), which is both smart and smart-ass and sails just on the right side of irksome. There are starship chases, space battles, prosthetic monsters, CGI beasties, red and green skinned peoples and costumes, hair and make up from The Fifth Element school of interstellar fashion. But there is also a heavy dose of physical, grounded action, much in keeping with other Marvel fantasies of the era (Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Wolverine are good examples of comic …

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The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

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The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

RZA’s first film as director was never going to be a subtle affair. The Wu-Tang Clan rapper has built a career on promoting the motifs from his favourite kung fu films, and his own movie was almost inevitable after his work with Quentin Tarantino on Kill Bill and mainstream Hollywood’s subsequent ironic adoption of grindhouse culture. Like Tarantino’s geek dream, RZA’s film shares a similar brashness and vulgarity but with an added grotesqueness influenced, presumably, by torture porn maestro Eli Roth, who produced the film and worked with RZA on the script. The script here is absolutely dreadful, far removed from …

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Drunken Master II (1994)

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Drunken Master II (1994)

Jackie Chan‘s film recounts the changing fortunes of the Wong family; father Kei-ying (a brilliant Ti Lung), eager son Fei-hung (an extroverted Jackie Chan) and stepmother (a boisterous Anita Mui). In turn of the century China, a steel works company are exploiting the rights of workers at the behest of a crooked government who are shipping priceless treasures out of the Far East. Kei-ying’s Po Chi Lam is soon under a similar threat from a nasty syndicate determined to sell off the land. So when his virtuous father is out of town, young tearaway Wong Fei-hung rallies the workers and …

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The Magnificent Kick (1980)

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The Magnificent Kick (1980)

Kwan Tak-hing comes out of semi-retirement to play Wong Fei-hung again in this routine kung fu movie. Han Ying-chieh from The Big Boss plays a feared general targeted by Cheung Lik and his two sisters seeking revenge for their murdered father. Jason Pai and Alan Chan play Master Wong’s incorrigible students who become embroiled in the sibling’s revenge plot when Jason agrees to teach one of the girls his secret kicking technique. His ‘magnificent kick’ doesn’t appear to be too dissimilar from any of his other kicks, other than the film slowing down when he does it. Like his other …

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X-Men: First Class (2011)

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X-Men: First Class (2011)

Another X-Men origins story, quite campy in parts and much lighter than the others. This may be due to the Kick-Ass team (writer Goldman, director Vaughn), although as a similar comic book tale of youthful angst and courage it doesn’t quite deliver the irreverence of their former hit, and the busy narrative often falls into a box-ticking exercise in exposition. Essentially we have another spin off disguised as a prequel as a means of hiring a fresh cast of hot new talent: Jennifer Lawrence as a younger and more rounded (ahem) Mystique, and Fassbender and McAvoy as Magneto and Xavier respectively. Set …

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Profile: Kwan Tak-hing

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Profile: Kwan Tak-hing

Date of birth: June 27, 1905 (Guangzhou, China)

Date of death: June 28, 1996 (aged 91), Hong Kong

Other names: Sun Liang-chau, San Ching-jau, Kuan Tak-hing, Guan Desing

Occupation: Actor, instructor, action director, writer, producer

Style: Hung Gar, White Crane kung fu

Biography: Kwan Tak-hing was Hong Kong’s first bona fide kung fu movie star who became synonymous with the role of real-life folk hero Wong Fei-hung, who he would play in a series of over 70 black and white Cantonese films throughout the 1950s and 60s. In many ways, his life echoed that of his famous alter ego, and he is fondly remembered by the …

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