There’s a scene in 2025’s From the World of John Wick: Ballerina in which Ana De Armas, playing the ballerina assassin of the title, is forced to fend off an attack from an axe wielding assailant. It’s a frantic sequence, with De Armas eventually snapping her attacker’s arm, hacking his back to shreds with the axe, and for the pièce de résistance- with his head slumped over a smashed car … Continue reading →

When it comes to public transport in action movies, I’ve always felt like the humble bus tends to get shortchanged in favour of the train. I mean even a movie like Speed, that has its whole premise set around a bus, decides to end things with an action finale set on a train. I get it, trains offer plenty of scope for action scenes to play out in, but if … Continue reading →

Having got into martial arts cinema in the late 90’s, during the DVD boom of the early 2000’s I ravenously picked up practically every kung-fu movie that hit the format, even titles that I thought at the time were kung-fu flicks but, several years later, I’d learn were a different genre all together. One such title was the production that kick-started the taekwon-action genre in Korea – the 1974 Lee … Continue reading →

After going through a golden age in the 1960’s, Korean cinema went through one of its most challenging decades in the 70’s. Economic growth saw television sets make their way into most households and become the medium of choice, while the ushering in of the Yushin era saw president Park Chung-hee tighten his dictatorial grip on the country, imposing strict censorship on any creative work. After a decade that produced … Continue reading →

It’s been over 25 years since Wu Jing debuted on Hong Kong cinema screens in 1996’s Tai Chi Boxer, a production which saw him billed as the next Jet Li in part thanks to their shared history of being on the Beijing Wushu Team. While it’s debatable exactly what criteria would need to be ticked off in order to fulfil the prediction of being the next Jet Li, what can’t … Continue reading →

Over the last few years many of Jackie Chan’s classics from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s have found a new audience thanks to the stellar work of labels like 88 Films, Arrow Video, and Eureka! Entertainment. Arguably one of the most physically talented performers of the last 50 years, Chan was for many the ultimate action star – combining martial arts prowess, a willingness to put his body on the … Continue reading →

There would be few out there who’d argue that, in the world of kung fu cinema, the names of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao will forever be imprinted. Collectively known as the Three Dragons, between them the trio have headlined some of the defining movies of the genre, and even more when you count their experience behind the camera. Having studied at the same Peking Opera school under … Continue reading →

With the recent release of John Liu’s failed magnum opus New York Ninja, I was reminded of the arduous odyssey I once undertook to visit the location where the final fight took place in his breakout movie, 1976’s The Secret Rivals. It all began in 2014 when I interviewed Hwang Jang Lee in London as part of the SENI Strength and Combat Event that he was there visiting, and the interview … Continue reading →

Drunken Master 2 has finally received a worthy release on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Bros., with its Warner Archive Collection release, finally restoring the Cantonese version uncut. It now feels like the right time to examine this film in the cold light of day, as it has split opinion with Kung Fu and Jackie enthusiasts, ever since grainy versions were available on pirate VHS in the mid ‘90s. Is this … Continue reading →

It may come as a surprise, but the only director who’s worked with Jackie Chan more than Stanley Tong is Lo Wei. Of course the relationship between star and director is quite different. Chan cranked out 7 movies with Lo Wei at the helm in the 4 years spanning 1976 to 1979, starting with the intolerable New Fist of Fury and concluding with Dragon Fist, one of Chan’s best old-schoolers. … Continue reading →