Jack Reacher (2012)

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Jack Reacher (2012)

Lee Child’s long-running crime fiction character finds an unlikely cinematic alliance in Tom Cruise, who acts like a distracted sack in this otherwise passable thriller. Every character seems to be in awe of Jack Reacher, a mysterious ex-military policeman turned vigilante who lives incognito to defend the freedom of everyday citizens. But he’s actually a bit of a smarmy, cocksure know-it-all who only communicates with one-liners. He’s like Batman without the cape, or a jock version of Sherlock Holmes. Reacher is called in to assist the DA’s daughter in her defense of a former military sniper accused of firing bullets …

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Dreadnaught (1981)

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Dreadnaught (1981)

Yuen Woo-ping’s second Wong Fei-hung picture for Golden Harvest is symbolic of his progression from the steady slapstick traditions of his 70s pictures to the more inventive hair-brained fight choreography of his 80s output. Kwan Tak-hing has a larger role here than he did in The Magnificent Butcher and he commands it with authoritarian aplomb. His noble portrayal of Master Wong is just about the only thing taken seriously. Even its psychotic killer story-line is handled with all the pastiche of a B movie slasher, unwittingly diced into areas of broad comedy. It’s chaotic but ultimately fulfilling as Woo-ping embraces far-out wackiness …

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Profile: Anita Mui Yim-fong

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Profile: Anita Mui Yim-fong

Date of birth: October 10, 1963 (Hong Kong)

Date of death: December 30, 2003 (aged 40), Hong Kong

Other names: Mei Yan Fang, Mui Je, Mui Yim Fong

Occupation: Singer, actor

Biography: Widely celebrated as the Queen of Cantopop, Anita Mui’s incredible singing career spanned over two decades. She sold more than 10 million albums, played over 300 concerts and featured in more than 40 films.

Anita Mui was born the youngest of five children and raised in a predominantly single parent household having lost her father at the age of five. She performed Chinese Opera and sang pop songs in nightclubs and on the streets …

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Shaolin Drunkard (1983)

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Shaolin Drunkard (1983)

Mad as a bag of snakes, this insane masterpiece from the crazy brain of Yuen Woo-ping is pretty weird even by his esoteric standards, featuring a giant red eyed toad which sucks blood and sprays poisonous mucus, a demonic dueling puppet and a man who can fight with his hands on fire. As you can probably guess, this isn’t an existential turn-of-the-century thought-piece on alcoholism at the Shaolin temple. The drunkard of the title is bucktoothed beggar Yuen Cheung-yan, who leaves his post when he is supposed to be protecting Shaolin prisoner Sunny Yuen, playing a mad magician with fangs …

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Timecop (1994)

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Timecop (1994)

Van Damme‘s highest grossing film is undoubtedly a career high water mark. His limited acting range may not do justice to the clever story, but this is still a gripping actioner with enough of a convincing emotional core to gloss over the time traveling silliness. A brilliantly sardonic Ron Silver plays a repugnant Senator on the warpath to the White House, utilising a prototype time machine to manipulate the past and earn his future fortunes. Van Damme plays the government-sanctioned timecop on his tail, tortured by the explosive death of his pregnant wife and a fierce head of hair. “The …

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The Mechanic (2011)

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The Mechanic (2011)

Remake of Michael Winner’s 1972 B movie with Jason Statham in the Charles Bronson role: a car mechanic with a penchant for classical music moonlighting as a meticulous hitman. He’s instructed to bump off his friend and mentor Donald Sutherland, only for the old man’s boy to turn up and start asking questions. The boy is slightly psychotic, but The Stath trains him anyway as his protege, teaming up with him when revelations uncover a deadly plot within his own organisation. Statham makes a good stab at appearing sincere in yet another nuts and bolts action movie.

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Interview: John Kreng

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Interview: John Kreng

Stuntman, fight choreographer and author John Kreng has worked in the Hollywood film industry for nearly three decades.

Despite starting his career as a stand up comedian, John Kreng has worked with many legends of action cinema, including Jet Li, Tsui Hark, David Carradine and Yuen Cheung-yan.

Kreng is the author of Fight Choreography: The Art of Non Verbal Dialogue and has written extensively about the history and methods used in martial arts movie-making, as well as teaching seminars on how to fight on film. In 2013, Kreng was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum’s Hall of Honor. He is working …

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The Secret Rivals (1976)

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The Secret Rivals (1976)

The success of Seasonal Films’ first big money spinner is due to the merits of Ng See-yuen’s ensemble cast. A deluge of young talent run wild in an era of Shaw Brothers pot-boilers and Bruce Lee clones. The refreshing legwork of HK debutantes Hwang Jang-lee and John Liu is enough to bring on a hot flush, introducing to the world the caricatures they would later embody: Hwang as the hippy-haired so-evil-it-hurts Northern Leg meanie Silver Fox, and John Liu as his stony-faced, do-gooder antithesis. Wong Tao, another relative newcomer, buffs up nicely as the womanising Southern Fist protagonist who, in …

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Pedicab Driver (1989)

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Pedicab Driver (1989)

Sammo Hung and chums work as pedicab drivers in Macau. When they’re not brawling with rival taxi firms or playing idle, they’re oiling their chains for the opposite sex. But womanising brings its own trouble. Sammo’s cake-making crumpet Nina is torn between her tubby toy boy and a besotted old master. Benny Mok spends the majority of the film wooing one of his bride-to-be clients, only for her to be revealed as a hooker. And you were expecting fart jokes? This is racy stuff for Sammo whose insane genius (or fatal flaw?) is his complete inability to take matters seriously. …

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Vengeance (1970)

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Vengeance (1970)

Chang Cheh‘s bittersweet ode to American film noir stars baby-faced muse David Chiang as the Opera partner and brother of Ti Lung, who is blinded and bloodied and kicked to bits after slapping a rival master. Chiang launches a scathing attack against all involved, finding time to shack up with his sister-in-law on a quest which takes him straight into the lair of the Generalissimo himself. This film set the standard for the kung fu revenge film, cementing Chang Cheh’s importance as not only a great conductor of high concept extravagance, but also Hollywood-esque style and tenderness, balanced adequately with …

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