Born to Defence (1986)

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Born to Defence (1986)

Jet Li‘s first and (so far) only film as director and star is a muddled Second World War drama which sees the young hero return from the front line – where he has been killing Japanese soldiers in a spectacularly acrobatic and gung ho fashion – to a China overrun by obnoxious western allies in cahoots with the local constabulary. Li reunites with an old friend and covers his shifts as a rickshaw driver when times are tough, only to face a bullying group of American navy louts. They destroy his rickshaw, which sets in motion a pattern of escalating …

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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

The Mummy franchise limps over the finishing line with a heave and a groan, much like the walking dead these films helped to popularise. The second sequel runs out of steam long before it even gets going. The engaging qualities of the original have all but vanished revealing only the film’s brazen lack of originality with bits lifted from Raiders of the Lost Arc, Tomb Raider, National Treasure and all the rest. Rachel Weisz has absconded leaving doe-eyed jock Fraser to try and wrestle up some chemistry with Maria Bello, but it’s a forced affair. John Hannah’s comedic Brit support …

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Writing Kung Fu (1979)

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Writing Kung Fu (1979)

Bolo Yeung‘s second film as director is a messianic allegory, an unsettling study on the rich-poor divide, and a testament to faith in a world corrupted by wealth and power. There is a poignancy and anger to the story which makes it more than just your standard kung fu movie, with Bolo casting himself as the embodiment of pure evil. Dressed in white (the colour of death in China), he poses as a Grim Reaper-like salt trader to infiltrate a small ragtag community of orphans, alcoholics and unscrupulous profiteers, before bumping them off with the hope of stealing their treasure. …

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The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

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The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Filmed back-to-back with the second sequel, Revolutions, and with a combined budget of $300 million, this high-concept follow-up is like looking at the first film through a magnifying glass, or some of those code-seeking sunglasses they’re all wearing. We get to see the widely heralded Zion in all its glory – a cavernous, underground, industrial depot complete with high-tech machinery and thousands of extras. For the uninitiated, Zion is the home of the last remaining humans who have escaped the digital confines of the Matrix and live in fearful seclusion near the Earth’s core, and the location acts as the …

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Chinese Heroes (2001)

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Chinese Heroes (2001)

Primitive kung fu, the sort of mangled narrative and small budget slapdashery you would expect from a film of a different era. A crucial government paper, a revenge motive, a beggar with expert kung fu skills, a group of orphans and a Japanese villain. It hardly screams originality, but there is something reassuring about the marvelous physicality of wushu wunderkind Sik Siu-lung, even if the story reeks. We’re left puzzled as to why an army of Second World War ninja want a secret letter so much that they decide to terrorise a poor close-knit circle of patriots to get it, …

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Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

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Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Detective Sergeants Riggs (Gibson) and Murtaugh (Glover) return to the familiar buddy cop formula determined to prove they’re “not too old for this shit” by tracking down a ruthless pact of Chinese triads running a slave labour racket, counterfeiting money and the like. The action is extravagant and the performances broad but the racial slurring and stereotypes make the film unpalatable. The writers employ a crass shorthand in portraying all Chinese as either violent gang members or simple-minded. The great Jet Li is the only worthwhile thing going; making his US debut playing an against-type, pony-tailed triad leader. But even …

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The Raid 2 (2014)

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The Raid 2 (2014)

Gareth Evans‘ expansive, delirious and captivating sequel to The Raid: Redemption is undoubtedly one of the best fight films of modern times. Instead of simply rehashing the unique gimmicks and quirks which made the first film such a contained and vibrant masterpiece, this broadens the scope to involve an epic Godfather-style family feud at the heart of two warring crime dynasties, a young man’s lust for power, a prison drama and an undercover cop movie. The full agenda impacts on the running time – checking in at something close to two and a half hours – but the story is told …

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Black Mask (1996)

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Black Mask (1996)

The 701 Squad are a team of emotionless super killers equipped in the latest fashion accessories and martial mod cons. Their shady leader plans to use the assassins to wipe out every drug baron in Hong Kong, only to crown himself king of the pushers. That’s where Jet Li comes in. He’s an ex-701 member now living a quiet half-life as a librarian, befriending a workaholic policeman (Lau Ching-wan) and charming his co-workers (particularly young Karen Mok). He’s the only one capable of stopping the baddie, so Jet dons a superhero outfit (mask, hat and cloak) and sets about saving …

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Infernal Street (1973)

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Infernal Street (1973)

Taiwanese kung fu movie which owes a debt to Fist of Fury and follows a similar anti-Japanese hysteria in which plucky Chinese boxers battle against an intimidating foreign force. The Japanese are intent on getting the population of a Chinese town (it’s unclear where) hooked on opium. The local GP feels the brunt of the town’s addiction problems and forms an unlikely resistance alongside his daughter (played by Wong Ging-ping) and Yuen Tien-lung, who plays an archetypal kung fu orphan. He decides to stand up to the Japanese by raiding their gambling dens and causing a ruckus. The film is formulaic …

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The Man from Hong Kong (1975)

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The Man from Hong Kong (1975)

Nationally celebrated as the first Australian martial arts film, this was also the first Australian-Hong Kong co-production, produced at the height of the international kung fu boom and during a mass resurgence in Australian film-making, mostly exploitative in nature.

At the time, Hong Kong production companies like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest were making inroads into the European, American and Japanese markets using kung fu as their unique commercial weapon. Movies like Enter the Dragon (1973), the Hammer Film co-produced The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974), and blaxploitation efforts like Cleopatra Jones (1973) were money spinners designed to not …

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