Category Archives: Reviews

Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force (2025) Review

Posted on February 20, 2025 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Wu Ershan Cast: Kris Phillips, Narana Eryeneeva, Wu Hsing-Go, Yu Shi, Luke Chen, Yafan Wu, Ci Sha Running Time: 144 min.  By Paul Bramhall I ended my review for Creation of the Gods: Kingdom of Storms by expressing how I “hope we’ll be paying another visit to the Creation of the Gods sooner rather than later”, and sure enough less than 18 months on the sequel (and middle part of an … Continue reading →

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Dark Nuns (2025) Review

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Kwon Hyeok-Jae Cast: Song Hye-Kyo, Jeon Yeo-Bin, Lee Jin-Uk, Heo Jun-Ho, Moon Woo-Jin, Kim Guk-Hee Running Time: 114 min.  By Paul Bramhall  It’s been a decade since the release of 2015’s The Priests, a movie for which its Korean title directly translates to Dark Priests, an approach which has been taken quite literally for its 2025 sequel – Dark Nuns. Despite The Priests being a straight forward exorcism flick, … Continue reading →

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews |

Magic Crane, The (1993) Review

Posted on February 4, 2025 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Benny Chan Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Anita Mui Yim-Fong, Rosamund Kwan Chi-Lam, Damian Lau Chung-Yan, Lawrence Ng Kai-Wah, Norman Tsui Siu-Keung, Zhang Tielin Running Time: 96 min. By Paul Bramhall In 2017 the late director Benny Chan unleashed Meow onto the world, the tale of Louis Koo and an oversized ginger cat from space, a production which had much of the action maestro’s fanbase scratching their heads as to … Continue reading →

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Revolver (2024) Review

Posted on January 19, 2025 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Oh Seung-wook Cast: Jeon Do-Yeon, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Joon-Han, Kim Jong-Soo, Jeong Man-Sik, Jeon Hye-Jin, Lee Jung-Jae, Jung Jae-Young, Ma Woong-Kyu Running Time: 114 min. By Paul Bramhall Revolver marks the third directorial outing for Oh Seung-wook, and while there’s nothing particularly out of the ordinary about a director making their third feature, what makes Seung-wook’s case relatively unique is that it’s taken him the best part of quarter … Continue reading →

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Harbin (2024) Review

Posted on January 10, 2025 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Woo Min-Ho Cast: Hyun-Bin, Park Jeong-Min, Jo Woo-Jin, Jeon Yeo-Bin, Lee Dong-Wook, Park Hoon, Yoo Jae-Myung, Lily Franky, Kim Ji-Oh, Lee Tae-Hyeong, Ahn Se-Ho Running Time: 114 min.  By Paul Bramhall There’s been no shortage of action tinged spy thrillers set during Japan’s colonisation of Korea in the early 20th century, with productions like Assassination, The Age of Shadows, and Phantom being superlative examples of the genre, but few … Continue reading →

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Prosecutor, The (2024) Review

Posted on January 6, 2025 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Donnie Yen Co-director: Ho Pong Mak Cast: Donnie Yen, Julian Cheung, Shirley Chan, Kent Cheng, Michael Hui, Ray Lui, Mark Cheng, Kang Yu, Pak Hon Chu, Adam Pak, Kong Lau, Liza Wang Running Time: 118 min.  By Paul Bramhall Is it just me or is Donnie Yen making a bit of a niche for himself riffing on Yuen Biao’s 1980’s era? During the 2010’s we got a 2-part remake … Continue reading →

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Lucky Seven | aka 7 Ninja Kids (1986) Review

Posted on January 3, 2025 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Chao Chen-Kuo Cast: Chiao Pei, Yang Wei-De, Lin Tung-An, Wang Chi-Cheng, Cheng Wei-Pai, Chang Chai-Ming, Hsu Yu-Ta, Hsiao Hung-Me, Eugene Thomas, Chang Yi-Teng Running Time: 90 min. By Paul Bramhall Spend long enough in the niche genre that is kung-fu cinema, and you’ll eventually find yourself exploring some of the more obscure corners of what’s on offer. One such corner is that of the Taiwanese kids kung-fu movie, a … Continue reading →

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Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993) Review

Posted on December 29, 2024 by Ian Whittle

Director: Rob Cohen Cast: Jason Scott Lee, Lauren Holly, Nancy Kwan, Michael Learned, Lim Kay-tong, Ric Young, Luoyong Wang, John Cheung, Van Williams, Shannon Lee Running Time: 120 min.  By Ian Whittle This is a film I enjoy a lot more unreservedly now than I did as a teen. Back then, I knew all the ins and outs of Bruce’s life (or at least, I thought I did, Matthew Polly’s … Continue reading →

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Legend, A (2024) Review

Posted on December 23, 2024 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Stanley Tong Cast: Jackie Chan, Bextiyar Gülnezer, Yixing Zhang, Aarif Lee Zhi-ting, Chen Li, Max Huang, Kim Hee-seon, Shawn Dou Yecheng Zheng, Ray Lui Leung Wai Running Time: 130 min.  By Paul Bramhall Back in 2021 I wrote a retrospective on Jackie Chan and Stanley Tong called ‘Giving the People What They Want’, framed from the perspective of how their collaborations as director and star always appealed to the … Continue reading →

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Black Cat II: The Assassination of Boris Yeltsin (1992) Review

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Paul Bramhall
"Black Cat II" Theatrical Poster

Director: Stephen Shin Cast: Jade Leung, Robin Shou, Zoltan Buday, Bob Wilde, Alexander Skorokhod, Tatiana Chekhova, Mike Miller, Jack Wong Wai-Leung, Wan Seung-Lam  Running Time: 90 min.  By Paul Bramhall Despite Black Cat’s middling box office results, it wasn’t enough to deter D&B Films from continuing to push Jade Leung as a bankable action lead for the 1990’s, and just a year later we’d get a sequel in the form … Continue reading →

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Beheaded 1000, The (1993) Review

Posted on December 14, 2024 by Paul Bramhall

AKA: The Executioner Director: Ting Shan-Hsi Cast: Jimmy Wang Yu, Chin Siu-Ho, Joey Wong Cho-Yin, Monica Chan Fat-Yung, Wu Ma, Pauline Wong Siu-Fung, Sun Ya-Tung, Shen Hai-Rong Running Time: 105 min. By Paul Bramhall One of the more intriguing propositions to come out of the early 90’s, on the surface at least The Beheaded 1000 offers up a Taiwanese take on the Hong Kong blend of wuxia and fantasy that … Continue reading →

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Striking Rescue (2024) Review

Posted on December 4, 2024 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Siyu Cheng Cast: Tony Jaa, Xing Yu, Kaho Hung, Philip Keung, Peng Bo, Yu Bolin, Wang Chenxin, Chen Duo Yi Running Time: 110 min.  By Paul Bramhall Action cinema is always evolving, and whenever it’s discussed Hong Kong’s golden era deservedly casts a long shadow. For a long time fans have lamented the gradual decline of the territories output, an inevitability that’s down to a number of disparate reasons, … Continue reading →

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Devils Stay (2024) Review

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Hyeon Moon-seob Cast: Park Shin-Yang, Lee Min-Ki, Lee Re, Won Mi-won, Yoon Jong Seok, Yoo Sun-ho, Shim So-young Running Time: 95 min. By Paul Bramhall Ever since 2015’s The Priests Korean cinema has had bit of a thing going on with, well, priests. While Jang Jae-hyon’s debut served up its holy protagonists in the context of the exorcism genre, since then we’ve had MMA priests fighting demons in The Divine … Continue reading →

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Goose Boxer | aka Shaolins Tough Kid (1978) Review

Posted on November 21, 2024 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Tai Si-Fu Cast: Charles Heung Wah-Keung, Lee Hoi-Sang, Phillip Ko Fei, Tin Ching, Addy Sung Gam-Loi, Chan Lap-Ban, Lee Chun-Wa, Wong Mei, Cheung Sin-Ming Running Time: 90 min.  By Paul Bramhall This year marks the 10th anniversary of my relationship with Goose Boxer, which I confess has been a fairly one-sided affair. Purchased as part of a 9-movie DVD set called Brooklyn Zu Volume 1, I picked up the … Continue reading →

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Secret Executioners | aka Trouble-Solving Broker (1982) Review

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Paul Bramhall

Director: Lee Doo-Yong Co-director: Godfrey Ho Cast: Shin Woo-chul, Hwang Jang Lee, Jim Norris, Kwon Il-soo, Min Bok-gi, Park Dong-ryong Running Time: 90 min. By Paul Bramhall It remains one of the greatest travesties in Korean cinema that director Lee Doo-yong’s The Trouble-Solving Broker is referenced in 99% of English language content as “another one of those Godfrey Ho cut and paste jobs.” The real tragedy is that it’s also … Continue reading →

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