Category Archives: Reviews

Wandering Earth II, The (2023) Review

Director: Frant Gwo Cast: Wu Jing, Li Xuejian, Ning Li, Andy Lau, Wang Zhi, Zhu Yanmanzi, Sha Yi, Zhang Yi Running Time: 173 min.  By Will McGuire The Wandering Earth 2 represents a new high-water mark for production values in Chinese cinema. One look at the opening credits will tell you that both this film and its 2019 first installment are the product of literally the entire Chinese cinematic apparatus, … Continue reading

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Ghost Station, The (2022) Review

AKA: Ghost of Oksu Station Director: Jeong Yong-ki Cast: Kim Bo-ra, Kim Jae-hyun, Shin So-yul, Obon, Kim Kang Il, Kim Soo Jin, Kim Kwang Hyun Running Time: 80 min. By Henry McKeand “Write a provocative article with a clickbait headline!” This is one of many pieces of questionable advice given to Na-Young, the journalist protagonist of Jeong Yong-Ki’s The Ghost Station. Played by Kim Bo-ra, she’s the standard cinematic reporter: … Continue reading

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Untold Story 2, The (1998) Review

Director: Andy Ng Yiu-Kuen Cast: Emotion Cheung Kam Ching, Anthony Wong Chau Sang, Melvin Wong Gam San, Yeung Faan, Helena Law Lan, Jamie Luk Kim Ming, Pauline Suen Kai Kwan Running Time: 91 min.  By Paul Bramhall In 1993 Herman Yau and Anthony Wong teamed up as director and star to create what’s considered to be the definitive Cat III movie in the form of The Untold Story. A grizzly … Continue reading

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Hunt (2022) Review

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

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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Silent Night (2023) Review

Director: John Woo Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yoko Hamamura, Vinny O’Brien, Anthony Giulietti, John Pollack, Angeles Woo Running Time: 104 min.  By Will McGuire Silent Night represents John Woo’s return to Hollywood after a twenty year absence. Trailers breathlessly proclaim him to be “the Michelangelo of the Action Film”, and this film is clearly meant to re-introduce him to an American audience before his … Continue reading

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Phantom Kung Fu (1979) Review

Director: Lee Tso-Nam Cast: Chang Yi, Don Wong Tao, Lee Kwan, Ma Cheung, Jimmy Lee Fong, Shih Ting Ken, Tommy Lee Gam Ming, Wang Tai Lang, Got Heung Ting, Miu Tin Running Time: 90 min.  By Will McGuire Lee Tso-Nam is one of the most distinctive directors of independent kung fu films during the 70’s. A favorite of Tarantino, his energetic, workmanlike, style produced kung fu films that stood out … Continue reading

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Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021) Review

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

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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Crocodile Island (2020) Review

Director: Simon Zhao Co-director: Xu Shixing Cast: Gallen Lo, Hu Xueer, Liao Yinyue, Wang BingXiang, He Qiwei, Dang Wei, Zhao Zuo Running Time: 86 min. By Will McGuire Crocodile Island is a bad film, but it is a film that’s worth talking about because the question of why it is bad is so instructive to problems in Chinese genre cinema right now. First of all, the film is a throwback … Continue reading

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Expect No Mercy (1995) Review

Director: Zale Dalen Cast: Billy Blanks, Jalal Merhi, Wolf Larson, Laurie Holden, Anthony De Longis, Michael Blanks, Réal Andrews, Sam Moses, Jefferson Mappin, Géza Kovács, Richard Fitzpatrick, Brett Halsey, Scott Wickware, Lazar Rockwood Running Time: 91 min. By Will McGuire I adore the world of 80’s and 90’s western martial arts action films. If it stars Sho Kosugi, Jeff Speakman, Don Wilson, or Mark Dacascos it’s probably going to be … Continue reading

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Believer 2 (2023) Review

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

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

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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Warhorse One (2023) Review

Director: William Kaufman Co-director: Johnny Strong Cast: Johnny Strong, Athena Durner, Raj Kala, James Sherrill, Siya, Todd Jenkins, Danny Augustus, Michael Sauers, Xander Gòmez, David Ibrahim Running Time: 125 min.  By Henry McKeand Is the POW-MIA action film making a comeback? It’s been nearly four decades since John Rambo went back into the jungle to retroactively win Vietnam, but “The War Ends When I Say It Ends!” flicks seem to … Continue reading

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