Author Archives: Paul Bramhall

Hunt (2022) Review

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Lee Jung-Jae Cast: Lee Jung-Jae, Jung Woo-Sung, Jeon Hye-jin, Heo Sung-tae, Ko Yoon-Jung, Kim Jong-Soo, Jeong Man-Sik, Lim Hyung-Guk, Jung Kyung-Soon  Running Time: 130 min.  By Paul Bramhall As a leading man Lee Jung-jae has been a consistent presence in the Korean film industry ever since his debut with The Young Man in 1994 at 21 years old. While many actors harbour a curiosity to direct, it’s still a rarity to … Continue reading →

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12.12: The Day (2023) Review

Posted on December 9, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Kim Seong-su Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Jung Woo-Sung, Lee Sung-Min, Park Hae-Joon, Kim Sung-Kyun, Jeong Man-Sik, Jung Hae-In, Nam Yun-Ho, Jeong Dong-Hwan Running Time: 141 min. By Paul Bramhall When a country goes through a period of turmoil and trauma, it’s always interesting to see how much time passes in order for those feelings to be collectively processed, arriving at a point where the events in question lose enough of … Continue reading →

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Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021) Review

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Ana Lily Amirpour Cast: Jeon Jong-seo, Kate Hudson, Ed Skrein, Evan Whitten, Craig Robinson, Cory Roberts Running Time: 106 min. By Paul Bramhall When it comes to the age-old question of which Asian actors should try their hand at Hollywood, my usual response is to ask why they’d need to in the first place, however even in the 2020’s Hollywood remains a kind of validation in the world of … Continue reading →

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The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell (2023) Review

Posted on November 23, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Herman Yau Cast: Louis Koo, Lau Ching-Wan, Aaron Kwok, Caiyu Yang, Gallen Lo, Tse Kwan-ho, Alex Fong Chung-sun, Power Chan, Timmy Hung, Lam Suet  Running Time: 125 min. By Paul Bramhall Ten years after the release of 2013’s The White Storm, the late Benny Chan’s divisive homage to the heroic bloodshed genre, it’s a safe bet that no one was expecting it to become a trilogy. However in 2023 … Continue reading →

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Believer 2 (2023) Review

Posted on November 17, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Baek Jong-Yeol Cast: Cho Jin-Woong, Cha Seung-Won, Han Hyo-Joo, Oh Seung-Hoon, Kim Dong-Young, Lee Joo-Young, Kang Seung-hyun, Jung Joon-won, Tzi Ma, Andreas Fronk Running Time: 114 min. By Paul Bramhall The decision to remake Hong Kong auteur Johnnie To’s 2013 crime thriller Drug War as a Korean production would prove to be a winning one when Believer was released in 2018. While the original was To’s first venture to … Continue reading →

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The War God | aka Calamity (1976) Review

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Chen Hung-Min Cast: Ku Ming-Lun, Tse Ling-Ling, Chen Yu-Hsin, Lung Fei, Cindy Tang Hsin, Tseng Chao Runnning Time: 91 min.  By Paul Bramhall The chances are if someone was feeling in the mood for some kaiju action, the go-to country would be Japan. The likes of Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidora have practically come to define the genre, and of course the word ‘kaiju’ itself is Japanese, directly translating … Continue reading →

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Blood and Steel (1990) Review

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Mark Swetland Cast: David Male, Joanne Gagliardo, Elaine Arnone, Diane Zdarsky, John Raszeja, David Bobik, Rick Swetland, Ron Detrick, Scott Sehl, Jim Reeb Running Time: 87 min. By Paul Bramhall One side effect from the emergence of boutique Blu-ray labels over the last 10 years, is that we’ve seen a deluge of increasingly obscure and “lost” low budget productions being given the deluxe release treatment, some of them even … Continue reading →

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Shaolin Kids, The (1975) Review

Posted on November 4, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Joseph Kuo Cast: Polly Shang-Kwan, Chang I Fei, Tin Peng, Carter Wong, Kam Kong, Yee Yuen, Chang Yi, Jimmy Lee Fong, Cliff Lok, Chen Chiu, Sham Chin Bo Running Time: 91 min. By Paul Bramhall Like every genre kung-fu cinema has continued to evolve throughout the years, and perhaps no decade was more transformative than the 70’s. While the swordsplay dominated wuxia genre still ruled the roost at the … Continue reading →

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Lion Girl (2023) Review

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Kurando Mitsutake Cast: Tori Griffiths, David Sakurai, Katarina Leigh Waters, Derek Mears, Stefanie Estes, Julie Burrise, Erin Marie Hogan, Shelby Lee Parks, Hidetoshi Imura, Kirk Geiger, Akihiro Kitamura, Wes Armstrong, Taishi Tamaki Running Time: 121 min. By Paul Bramhall It’s fair to say that for most of the 2020’s audiences have grown fatigued to the endless superhero fodder that’s dominated cinema screens for the past 15 years, with reboots, … Continue reading →

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Return of the 18 Bronzemen, The (1976) Review

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Joseph Kuo Cast: Carter Wong, Polly Shang-Kuan, Tien Peng, Ko Yu-Min, Yuen Sam, Wong Fei Lung, Lau Lap Cho, O Yau Man, Chiu Ting, Shaw Luo Hui, Chen Chiu Running Time: 96 min. By Paul Bramhall Following the success of the previous years 18 Bronzemen, director Joseph Kuo realised that he still had a few tubs of bronze paint leftover, so got the gang back together for a sequel, … Continue reading →

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Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (2023) Review

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Wu Ershan Cast: Kris Phillips, Narana Eryeneeva, Huang Bo, Yafan Wu, Ci Sha, Yu Shi, Li Xuejian, Chen Muchi Running Time: 148 min. By Paul Bramhall  There was a time in the mid-2010’s when the Mainland Chinese film industry seemed to be obsessed with producing big budget CGI driven fantasy spectacles, with what felt like a new title being announced with alarming frequency. One such example was 2016’s League … Continue reading →

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Ride On (2023) Review

Posted on October 13, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Larry Yang Cast: Jackie Chan, Xing Yu, Andy On, Yu Rongguang, Wu Jing, Stanley Tong, Aarif Rahman, Liu Haocun Running Time: 126 min. By Paul Bramhall For fans of Jackie Chan, on paper Ride On is the movie we’ve (yes, I count myself amongst them!) been waiting for him to make for at least the last 10 years. Since Mainland China became a box office juggernaut in the 2010’s … Continue reading →

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Ballerina (2023) Review

Posted on October 9, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Lee Choong-Hyun Cast: Jeon Jong-seo, Park Yu-rim, Kim Ji-hoon, Kim Mu-yeol, Shin Se-Hwi, Park Hyoung-Soo, Kim Young-Ok, Joo Hyun, Jang Yoon-Ju, Park Geun-Jeong Running Time: 93 min. By Paul Bramhall At the end of my review for director and writer Lee Chung-hyun’s 2020 feature length debut The Call, I noted how its success “owes a lot to Jong-seo’s edgy performance, but also marks Chung-hyun as a director to keep … Continue reading →

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Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman (2022) Review

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Bingjia Yang Cast: Xie Miao, Gao Wei Wan, Hao Xiang, Zhang Di, Liu Ben, Zhang Haosen, Kang Xuan Running Time: 78 min.  By Paul Bramhall  The character of the blind swordsman is one that can be found in almost every countries output that’s dabbled in the martial arts genre. It’s arguably Shintaro Katsu’s portrayal of Zatoichi in Japanese cinema whose shadow is cast over all of them, a character who, … Continue reading →

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Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman (2023) Review

Posted on October 5, 2023 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Kim Seong-sik Cast: Gang Dong-won, Huh Joon-ho, Esom, Lee Dong-hwi, Park Myung-hoon, Lee Jung-eun Running Time: 95 min. By Paul Bramhall  The latest family friendly blockbuster to arrive in Korean theaters, Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman offers up a big screen adaptation of the webtoon Possession, which revolves around the adventures of a fake exorcist. Sustaining both himself and his assistant through uploading their elaborately staged exorcisms to YouTube, … Continue reading →

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