For movie lovers around the world, 2018 was a very good year! Think Black Panther, Aquaman, A Quiet Place, Avengers: Infinity War and many others that were real hits. We had a mixed bag of everything, including horror, thrillers and mainly superhero movies. In fact, there was something for everyone.
And trust us, 2019 is actually an awesome year. In this article, we feature the top 5 movie releases of 2019. We promise you’re going to be blown away this year!
Top 5 Movie Releases of 2019
Below, we list a few movies that you can expect to watch whenever you take a break from kiwibetting sports betting. So, now that we’ve got you excited, let’s get right into it.
Avengers 4
This 3 May release is anticipated badly by fans all over the world. For some reason, the creators of this movie have kept the title under the covers but we don’t care. In this instalment, Thanos will wipe half the universe out of existence and it is up to the remaining heroes to pick up the pieces and restore the world.
Star Wars: Episode IX
This movie is due for release on the 20th of December. For this, it’s a sort of disappointment as this is the finale to the trilogy. We will see what happens to Rey and Kylo Ren after Luke Skywalker dies. The last JEDI provoked a lot of strong opinions from all angles – the best online casino America sequence is a segment even the film’s cheerleaders have taken issue with.
It: Chapter 2
6 September is the release date of this horror flick. We really do not know much about this movie except that the clown will come back again, only this time, its a few years later. This means those cute little kids won’t feature in this one. However, we do know that Pennywise is coming back again to haunt their behinds.
Lion King
Lion King is scheduled for release on the 19th of July and I know a lot of us will be sad to see Mufasa die. However, the cast in this one will really impress you. We have Donald Glover playing Simba, Nala being played by Beyoncé, Seth Rogen playing Pumba and John Oliver is Zazu. Now that’s some cast! Simply can’t wait!
Aladdin
This will be released on the 24th of May. We don’t know anything else about this movie except that Will Smith will be playing the Genie. It’s going to be awesome I tell you, we really don’t care about anything else at this point.
Director: Nick Cheung Cast: Nick Cheung, Xu Jing-Lei, He Jiong, Yu Nan, Michael Miu Kiu-Wai, Yuen Wah, Lam Suet, Louis Cheung, Maggie Cheung Hoh-Yee, Li Hai-Tao, Chris Collins Running Time: 112 min.
By Paul Bramhall
It’s been 3 years since Nick Cheung last sat in the director’s chair for his sophomore feature Keeper of Darkness, which saw him sticking to the horror tropes of his directorial debut. For his third outing though, titled The Trough, the horror genre has been cast aside, and in its place is a neo-noir styled slice of pulpy crime fiction. Like his previous two outings as director, Cheung also casts himself as the star, and if anything it proves that the HK thespians directorial trajectory is certainly an interesting one.
While Hungry Ghost Ritual was a relatively low-key outing that received lukewarm reviews, one thing that it did achieve is to give Cheung the confidence to go all out for his sophomore feature. Keeper of Darkness employed an ‘everything and the kitchen sink’ approach to its narrative, bouncing from horror to romance to comedy to dark drama with reckless abandon. It may sound unwieldy on paper, but Cheung’s yellow hair dyed ghost negotiator anchored proceedings in such a way, that it never felt as schizophrenic as it arguably was.
The Trough shows that his ambitions aren’t likely to see a return to the low-key any time soon, with a plot that sees him cast as an undercover cop in an underworld gang. At this point it’d be fair to think that this was a plot which has been done in HK and Chinese cinema plenty of times before – from Infernal Affairs to Extraordinary Mission – there’s plenty to choose from. However The Trough sets itself apart by not being set in Hong Kong or China, instead, Cheung has opted to create a completely fictional setting called Solo City. A kind of Sin City-esque landscape of low lives and lawlessness, its pulpy aesthetic is one that becomes more immersive the deeper we progress into his characters murky world.
Before that though, things get off to a rocky start. Kicking off in the desert, we find Cheung living a life of solitude, with nothing but a bluesy electric guitar driven soundtrack and an awful CGI hyena for company. Yes, even worse that those CGI hyena’s in Kung Fu Yoga. Tired of the undercover life, and indeed life in general, he doesn’t think twice about staring the hyena down. He may have hit rock bottom, but even at rock bottom you can be a bad ass. Upon returning to Solo City, he’s tasked with taking down ‘The Boss’, the mastermind behind the criminal activity plaguing the city. The key to taking down this mysterious unseen figure lies with a little girl, who’s been kidnapped from the orphanage she was in the care of, and ends up being reluctantly taken under Cheung’s wing. Every dirty cop and gangster seem to be after the girl, but for what reason nobody knows.
While the plot may sound relatively straight forward on paper, onscreen it frequently comes across as muddled. Cheung desperately wants us to empathize with his undercover cop, and his attempts to create that empathy range from the bizarre to the bombastic, sometimes both at the same time. One shot of him strolling moodily down a street, abruptly cuts to him plummeting through the air in a wingsuit, yelling at the top of his voice as the ground rapidly approaches. It’s a jarring shift, and while I appreciate such scenes are supposed to show he has a death wish (playing Russian roulette in your trailer is so 80’s), his placement of them is the equivalent of inserting a death metal track into the middle of a Michael Bublé number.
Indeed Cheung’s lofty ambitions, more so than either of his previous directorial efforts, are here restricted with the budget he has to work with. Most of the first half hour is made up of sets that look too sparsely decorated to give the illusion of reality, and random moments such as the wingsuit scene only serve to make it easy to declare The Trough an early write off. However as events progress, so it begins to find its footing, and both his character and direction begin to feel more assured. A gun fight in a dusty out of the way laundromat, presided over by the ever reliable Lam Suet, serves as a loud alarm to announce that things are going to get bloody and bullet riddled. Yes it may be CGI blood, however with the almost monochromatic washed out palette (think Once Upon a Time in Shanghai), the bursts of red still deliver the desired impact.
Much like Keeper of Darkness, as a viewer you eventually find yourself willing to go along with the jarring tonal shifts, and enjoy his overly ambitious tale of crooked cops and hidden villains. From the moody opening scenes, which aim to establish his characters devil may care attitude, once the plot actually kicks in, the action comes thick and fast. Interestingly, The Trough’s action direction duties go to Korean’s Bak Ju-cheon and Yu Sang-seob, and they have the desired effect of bringing a more down and dirty style of action to the table. There are gun fights aplenty, with Cheung using the opportunity to indulge in some double fisted handgun action (who can blame him?), and we even get a nicely staged knife fight with Philip Ng, clocking in a cameo appearance.
It’s safe to say that by the time talk turns to neurologically enhancing children with mental disabilities, and we’ve witnessed a car crashing from one high-rise floor across the street into another (think the exact same scene in Transporter 2), then the only sign left of the brooding opening is the ever present rain. As unwieldy as his narrative is, The Trough arguably owes a debt to its impressive supporting cast, who all commit to their roles regardless of how slight or bizarre they may be. The legendary Yuen Wah has an entertainingly violent role, as a gangster that leads an assault which goes all kinds of wrong. Needless to say, his fans will get a kick out of his role here far more than his rather thankless appearance in the same years Master Z: Ip Man Legacy.
The aforementioned Philip Ng and Lam Suet also play their parts, with He Jiong being an effective counterpoint as Cheung’s dry (and incorruptible) police contact, along with his tech expert sidekick played by Yun Nan (here’s hoping she turns up in Wolf Warrior 3!). Fans of Hong Kong cinema will no doubt enjoy the presence of the likes of Louis Cheung (watch out for the nod to Election), a particularly effective Michael Miu as a world weary gangster, Maggie Cheung Hoh-Yee as a crooked cop, and plenty more. Although, for those wondering, no Louis Koo (that’s a positive). Xu Jing-Lei, from the likes of The Warlords and Shinjuku Incident plays a pivotal role that it would be a spoiler to reveal here, however I can’t help but feel it would have been more effective if we’d spent more time with her character.
Cheung’s smartest move is perhaps the one he saves for when the credits are rolling. For those wondering how such a tale could ever get passed for Mainland distribution, he smartly stages a scene that plays alongside the end credits. Visiting a drug lord in Thailand, Cheung explains in no uncertain terms that he’s to stop the supply of drugs being sent to China (I mean Solo City) or else he’ll face the consequences. There we go – despite the murkiness of the character, the fact that he’s against drugs was obviously enough to give it a big fat tick of approval from our friends in the SARFT.
It’s true that The Trough falls short of its lofty ambitions, restricted perhaps equally by the regulations it has to adhere to as much as its budget. However Cheung’s voice as a director is still one that comes through loud and clear, and it’s a voice that’s worth paying attention to. A mess of style over substance it may be, but it’s a good looking one, and for that it’s worth checking out.
Chow said Kung Fu Hustle 2 will be a modern-day kung fu tale in a foreign country that will stand independent from the first film (via JS). The original took place in Shanghai, China in the 1940s, and followed a wannabe gangster (Chow) who aspires to join the notorious “Axe Gang” while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
Hong Kong superstar Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) is back with a sequel to his 1999 seminal comedy hit, The King of Comedy, which he co-directed with Lee Lik-chi (God of Cookery).
Men Suddenly in Black and Dream Home filmmaker Pang Ho-Cheung is taking a stab at the martial arts genre with the popular wuxia series, Deer and Cauldron, which he’ll produce and direct.
According to Variety (via AFS), the film will be set in the Qing Dynasty era, and ranging widely in a fashion comparable to Harry Potter or the Game of Thrones series, the books were written some 70 years ago by Louis Cha (aka Jin Rong), the father of the wu xia chivalric martial arts literary genre, who died last year. Cha’s novels have been previously adapted by Stephen Chow and others, and were shot as a Hong Kong TV series more than 20 years ago.
Production for Deer and Cauldron begins in mid-2019. Pang plans to shoot all three movies back-to-back, with the first arriving in 2021. Casting is currently underway.
Paul Racine (Lambert) is a high-powered executive living abroad in Japan. When he and his alluring companion, Kirina (Chen), find themselves the targets of assassins (Lone), Racine is ensnared in a web of intrigue and danger.
Special Features:
New! Audio Commentary With Writer/Director J.F. Lawton
Workprint Version of the Hunted with Extended, Alternate, and Deleted Scenes (In Standard Definition)
Japanese filmmaker Kazuaki Kiriya (Casshern) is set to direct The Mourner – based on script by Robin Shushan (AMC’s Feed the Beast) – adapted from the Japanese novel Itamu Hito by Arata Tendo.
The Mourner follows a jaded homicide detective who undergoes a spiritual awakening upon meeting a mystical young man (Ezra Miller of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) whose calling in life is to mourn the dead who have no one else to mourn them (via Collider).
According to Deadline, Mike Marcus (The Ward) will produce for Echo Lake Entertainment, along with Kiriya. Production is planned for summer 2019.
The good news: Titles from Johnnie To’s long-awaited Milkway Image film catalogue will finally be arriving on Blu-ray, thanks to French-based company Spectrum films.
And now, the bad news: As with the A Hero Never Dies Japanese Blu-ray, the Spectrum Blu-rays will not have English subtitles (only French subtitles) due to licensing issues.
But hopefully Spectrum’s release will open doors for other companies (Criterion, Arrow, Well Go USA, Shout, etc.) to see this as an opportunity to distribute these titles to meet consumer demands.
If you haven’t seen a late 90s-era Milkway film, you’re missing out on a great, unappreciated chapter in Hong Kong cinema, as evident in the Trailer below:
Director: Eric Tsang Producer: Stephen Shiu Cast: Andy Lau, Brigitte Lin, Sharla Cheung, Anita Yuen, Deannie Yip, Francis Ng, Michael Miu, Fung Hak On, Peter Chan, Timothy Zao, Chan Chi Fai, John Chang, Chang Kin Ming, Chow Hong Chiu, Lam Suet, Richard Ng Running Time: 102 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Back in the Shaw Brothers studios heyday, the writings of wuxia author Gu Long provided ample material for big screen adaptations. The tales of heroic swordsmen and dastardly villains that populated the martial world were frequently helmed by Chor Yuen, and on rare occasion in the years since, other directors have also had a crack at converting Long’s notoriously sprawling novels for the screen. Most recently Derek Yee directed Sword Master, a re-telling of the very movie he was the star of, in the form of 1977’s Death Duel. However it was the frantically paced wuxia new wave of the early 1990’s that provided the most fertile ground for such reinterpretations, with the likes of Butterfly and Sword taking its inspiration from Killer Clans, and A Warrior’s Tragedy providing a fresh take on Pursuit of Vengeance.
Handsome Siblings is another such production, putting a set of new wave threads on the 1979 Alexander Fu Sheng vehicle The Proud Twins, and stepping into Chor Yuen’s shoes is Eric Tsang. While Tsang will most likely be remembered for his roles in front of the camera, he’s also someone that’s proven himself to be a talented director behind it. Tsang helmed 2 of my all-time favorite kung fu movies, in the form of The Challenger (which marked his directorial debut) and The Loot, as well as being in the director’s chair for the initial entries in the Aces Go Places series. 1992 was a particularly busy year, as in addition to directing Handsome Siblings, he also co-directed and co-starred in Ghost Punting with Sammo Hung, along with acting roles in the likes of Once Upon a Time a Hero in China and The Days of Being Dumb.
As with any Gu Long adaptation, attempting even a concise version of the plot could easily threaten to take up the rest of the review, however the highly condensed in-a-nutshell version goes something like this. 8 out of the 10 Untouchable Villains are living in Villain Valley, a place where (you guessed it) villains go to repent for their sins. They used to be considered heroes, until 2 of them went rogue and ran off with a charity fund intended to help flood victims. So really, you’d be correct in thinking that the 8 left over aren’t actually villains at all, but stick with me. When the holder of the Warrants of Justice turns up, played by Sharla Cheung, to blow them to smithereens, her husband interrupts and demands she holds off until the truth comes out. Having none of it, she insists on slaying them, resulting in a lovers tiff that sees husband and wife facing off.
Not willing to admit defeat, Cheung eventually retreats, swearing to adopt and raise a child to return in 18 years, when the next tournament will take place that decides who’ll hold the Warrants of Justice. Unfortunately, after she leaves her husband reveals the injuries he sustained in the fight, and collapses into a vegetative state, leaving their baby son in the care of the 8 Untouchable (not really) Villains. As a thank you to him for sparing their lives, they decide to raise up his son themselves, teaching him everything they know about martial arts and tomfoolery. 18 years later, they consider the tournament as an opportunity to lure out the 2 rogues who stole the funds, and plan to use the now grown-up son to attend so that they can finally clear their name.
Considering the above 2 paragraphs make up just the first 10 minutes of Handsome Siblings, to delve into the story any deeper would be a fruitless exercise. The biggest selling point is not its highly convoluted plot, but rather the pairing of 2 of Hong Kong’s biggest stars of the era, Andy Lau and Brigitte Lin, as the fateful siblings in question. Thanks to roles in the likes of the God of Gamblers and Casino Raiders series, Lau was at the height of his popularity in the early 90’s, and during 1992 alone Handsome Siblings was just 1 of over 10 movies in which he’d feature, all in starring roles. No matter if you’re a fan of Lau or not (and let’s face it, who isn’t?), you can’t fault the man’s work ethic.
Of course when speaking about the new wave wuxia era, it’s only right that Brigitte Lin is mentioned in the same sentence. Despite becoming the face of the genre, her appearance in wuxia movies came at the tail end of her 20 year acting career, before she retired from the industry at the peak of her popularity in 1994. In a film industry which has become obsessed with youth, it’s difficult to believe that Lin was already 40 when she starred in the likes of Deadful Melody and Ashes of Time, a testament to an enduring beauty that saw her onscreen since the mid-70’s. While it was arguably her androgynous role in Swordsman 2 that made her a mainstay of the genre, it’s worth noting that Handsome Siblings was released the same year, and as a result doesn’t lean so heavily on her famous icy stare as many of its contemporaries soon would.
On top of Lau and Lin’s presence, Tsang fills his cast with a veritable who’s who of Hong Kong talent, both old and new. Frequent Stephen Chow collaborator Ng Man-Tat, and Pom Pom regular Deannie Yip, play a bickering couple within the Untouchables tasked with guiding Lau to the tournament. They make it worth clocking in based purely on their martial arts style – The Bitch and The Wolfs Sword stance. The always entertaining Francis Ng and legendary Fung Hak-On play the dastardly villain and traitorous monk respectively, while comedic genius Richard Ng and Wong Ching play the rogue Untouchables. Throw in small parts and cameos by the likes of Anita Yuen, Wong Yu, Josephine Koo, and Shing Fui-On, as a fan of Hong Kong cinema Handsome Siblings is an enjoyable experience just based on the amount of talent onscreen alone.
Tonally, Tsang opts for a madcap comedic approach rather than the whimsical musings that populate many a wuxia tale, and watching it over 25 years since its release, this approach comes across as a welcome breath of fresh air. The humor can often be as base as it comes, a not so gentle reminder of how un-politically correct the HK cinema of old was, with jokes about rotting dicks and rape thrown around like there’s no tomorrow. However, a surprising amount of the humor lands. When Ng Man-Tat accidentally inhales an aphrodisiac in a remote dwelling, Lau and Deannie Yip come to the rescue by hiring him a horse for the purpose of (according to the subtitle) “carry to town for hooking”. Man-Tat’s misunderstanding of the scenario results in one of the most grossly laugh out loud bestiality jokes in the history of cinema.
The action itself is handled by Venoms alumni Philip Kwok and Dang Tak-Wing. Kwok in particular had a lot on his plate in 1992, with Handsome Siblings being just 1 of 7 movies he action directed (including Hard Boiled and The Story of Ricky), and it was likely one of the productions in which he could take a breather. The action on display, while not frequent, displays all the prerequisites for a new wave wuxia – surprisingly graphic violence that always sounds worse on paper than it looks (a head explodes like a watermelon between one characters hand clap), billowing sheets of deadly silk capable of slicing people open, and plenty of airborne shenanigans. Of course, the blue tinted mist is a given.
As the finale looms, Lau and Lin realise they’re not technically siblings (well, the whole incestuous angle is never clearly addressed) so can fall in love, which allows them to combine their powers to master The Couples Sword (a technique that only couples truly in love can use!). The showdown pits them against the Iced Fire Palm of Francis Ng, and hilariously has Lau and Lin flying around in each other’s arms, while Lau frequently looks into her eyes and yells “Give me love!” If that doesn’t bring a smile to even the most jaded wuxia fan, then I don’t know what will. In many ways Tsang’s feature feels like a parody of the direction the genre was going in even by the time it hit cinema screens, and had it been made just a year later, I’m sure would be a very different movie. As it is though, Handsome Siblings stands as a reminder of just how much fun HK cinema used to be.
Longtime James Cameron fans who have watched his post-Titanic career with curiosity know that the director has long mulled over a live-action adaptation of Kishiro Yukito’s manga Alita: Battle Angel, but it was another case where Cameron was waiting for technology to catch up with his vision – that is – until it was announced that Robert Rodriguez (Machete) would be helming the project with Cameron producing.
Rodriguez is currently putting finishing touches on Alita: Battle Angel, which is due in theaters on February 14, 2019.
The film stars Rosa Salazar (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Mahershala Ali (Luke Cage), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), Michelle Rodriguez (The Assignment), Jackie Earle Haley (Shutter Island), Jeff Fahey (The Lawnmower Man), Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) and martial arts star Marko Zaror (Redeemer).
According to THR, Alita: Battle Angel is about a female cyborg that is discovered in a trash yard by a scientist. With no memory of her previous life except her deadly martial arts training, the woman becomes a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals.
On August 2nd, 2019, Dwayne Johnson (The Rundown), Jason Statham (The Meg) and Idris Elba (The Wire) will explode on the screen for Hobbs & Shaw (aka Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), a spinoff from the popular Fast & Furious franchise.
Directed by David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, and co-director of John Wick), Hobbs & Shaw takes place two years after the events of The Fate of the Furious. U.S. Diplomatic Security Agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) must join forces with the guy he hates the most, mercenary man Deckard Shaw (Statham) to stop a new threat that’s emerging: international “super-human” terrorist Brixton (Elba), via Deadline.
A new action series starring martial arts star Scott Adkins (Accident Man, Incoming) is currently being shopped to buyers. The series, titled Ascenders, is to be directed by Adkins’ frequent collaborator Jesse V. Johnson (Savage Dog, The Debt Collector) and developed by Ehud Bleiberg (Close Range) and Gregg Bishop (Dance of the Dead).
Read on for the full the details (via Stanley White):
Ascenders is a ten-hour supernatural action-thriller epic series. The series is designed with worldwide appeal in mind, featuring an international ensemble cast. Drawing inspiration from The Terminator, The Walking Dead, and Lost, as well as the works from Agatha Christie, Ascenders combines fist-pumping action, gripping suspense, and deep character development, all against a dark and original supernatural backdrop.
A dead doctor escapes from Hell with a group of damned souls and returns to the world of the living to solve his own murder. However, the Netherworld sends a pack of demonic bounty hunters called Reapers, who are unstoppable gun-toting agents of death, to hunt them all down and bring them back to Hell.
Director: Chin Kar Lok Producer: Eric Tsang Cast: Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan Siu Chun, Chin Kar Lok, Jerry Lamb, Michael Tse, Eric Tsang, Kurata Yasuaki, Billy Chow, Alan Ng, Sergej Onopko, Phil Chang Running Time: 100 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Hong Kong cinema has changed a lot since the 90’s, and it was during the opening of Golden Job that it hit me just how much. It was no big surprise for an early 90’s HK movie to joke about AIDS, usually involving one character ‘humorously’ wishing it on another, in a way which was so politically incorrect that, as a western viewer at least, you’d often question what you’d just heard. Times have changed a lot since then, and in the initial scenes of Chin Kar Lok’s latest directorial outing, our protagonists find themselves protecting a scientist who’s created a cure for AIDS. There’s not a single joke in sight, which I guess is a good thing, in a sign of the industries maturity towards understandably sensitive subjects. In every other aspect though, time hasn’t been kind to Hong Kong cinema.
I bring up 90’s HK cinema, because Golden Job looks to bank in on the nostalgia of a certain piece of that era, namely the Young and Dangerous series. Spanning across 9 instalments (ok, admittedly Born to Be King and Those Were the Days were released in 2000, which technically isn’t the 90’s anymore), the story of young triad punks rising up the ranks arguably did more to glorify the triad lifestyle than A Better Tomorrow could ever be accused of, and made stars out of Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan, Jerry Lamb, and Michael Tse. Other have tried to capture the chemistry the quartet bring whenever they appear onscreen together, perhaps no more disastrously than Daniel Chan’s poorly conceived 2013 reboot, Young and Dangerous: Reloaded. So perhaps it’s only fitting that it’s one of the original Young and Dangerous alumnus who brings them back together for the first time since the closing chapter of the series.
Chin Kar Lok appeared in both Young and Dangerous 5 and Born to be King (also action directing the former), and here returns for only his 3rd directing gig in over 20 years, having last sat in the director’s chair for 2002’s HK/Japan co-production, No Problem 2. Golden Job heavily riffs on the underlying themes of loyalty and brotherhood that permeated the Young and Dangerous series, focusing on a group of 5 orphans (what else?) played by Kar Lok himself, along with the iconic quartet.
They’ve grown up as mercenaries with a moral compass (so it can be shown in China, obviously), under the guidance of a kind hearted triad played by Eric Tsang. As a last job, they take on a Robin Hood assignment in Budapest to rob a truck full of medicine (bear with me here) which they’ll then deliver to Ekin Cheng’s love interest – a humanitarian doctor saving the sick children in Africa, despite constantly dwindling supplies. Unfortunately, the truck turns out to be full of gold rather than medicine (hence the title), and its gold that belongs to a local gangster. Not only that, it turns out one of their own was in on the deal (it’s not a spoiler to say that it’s Michael Tse), cue lots of drama, shooting, and brotherly yelling. Eventually, proceedings clumsily relocate themselves to Japan, where the remaining 4 plot their revenge for the betrayal (while simultaneously remembering that there are dying kids that need to be saved in Africa).
Golden Job is an intriguing mix of the old and new. It continues to leverage China’s ongoing business interests in Africa as an excuse for ill-defined scenarios, in which they show how much they’re helping (see also Wolf Warrior 2 and China Salesman), while also heavily banking on the simple pleasure of seeing so many familiar faces onscreen together again. Time has been kind to Ekin Cheng, and with age he’s developed an easy going charisma, which is a welcome replacement to his dull as dishwater screen presence that plagued many of his older movies. We even get a reunion of Yasuaki Kurata and Billy Chow, last seen together in 1994’s Fist of Legend. While Kurata has remained a regular presence in Hong Kong movies, Chow hasn’t appeared onscreen for over 10 years, so it’s great to see him back, even if both of their roles amount to little more than extended cameos.
For the most part, it’s the latter that makes Golden Job an easy watch. The chemistry between Ekin Cheng and Jordan Chan is just as on point as it was back in the Young and Dangerous days, with Chan’s more emotive style of acting playing off well against Cheng’s cool headed posturing. Jerry Lamb makes for a nice counterpoint as the most down to earth of the crew, while Kar Lok kind of feels like he’s there just to make up headcount. In fairness he is pulling triple duty as co-star, director, and action director (along with comparative newcomers Alan Ng and Tang Shui-Wa), so he can’t be accused of slacking. But while Kar Lok is arguably one of the greatest stuntmen to ever grace the screen, the same can’t be said for his skills as a thespian.
Thankfully he has improved as a director, and Golden Job moves along at a brisk pace, never risking to outstay its welcome. There’s a couple of great examples of the ‘show don’t tell’ principle, when a flashback to the past occurs in the same shot, revealing a truth that impacts the scene taking place in the present, avoiding the need to go down the exposition dump route. Other areas are more problematic, such as when Cheng ends up imprisoned after the job in Budapest goes awry, it’s never clearly communicated exactly how long he’s been inside. All we know is that it’s just long enough to warrant a montage – Jordan Chan has become a homeless bum while awaiting his release (loyalty and brotherhood boxes – check!), Lamb has opened a hot spring inn in Japan, and Kar Lok – well, yeah, he’s still around as well.
Kar Lok (and his stunt team) do get to flex their action directing muscles frequently, and for the most part with solid results. The initial action opening at a conference in the middle of the desert is energetically executed, with the camera work enhancing the action rather than obscuring it, and involves a vehicle visibly branded with JCST, which I’m assuming was on loan from the Jackie Chan Stunt Team (Chan’s on-board as a producer). There’s also a thrilling car chase that takes place in Japan, which has Cheng stealing a supercar from a motor show exhibition to go in pursuit of Michael Tse. The scene acts as a calling card to announce that Golden Job isn’t afraid to get silly with its action spectacle, and in many ways it reminded me of a similar set up in Stanley Tong’s China Strike Force, which pits a Lamborghini against an F3 race car.
Unfortunately Kar Lok hasn’t learnt how to utilise CGI, so for all of the in-camera vehicle mayhem, it’s almost completely ruined by the inclusion of a poorly executed piece of CGI, that sees a car go airborne and smash into a streetlight. Action directors need to understand, that if you’re executing a scene that alternates between both live action stuntwork and CGI effects, the audience is more likely to question what else was CGI, rather than what else was real. It’s a discredit to the team that put their lives on the line to plan and execute such a high risk sequence. Back in the China Strike Force era, chances are if the same idea was presented to launch a car vertically through the air into a streetlight, it’d be ruled out as being too risky. The same principle should apply today, rather than adopting an “ok, we’ll just do that one part with CGI” attitude. That way the action maintains its integrity, and isn’t ruined by a few shoddy seconds.
Luckily the finale suffers no such issues, as the quartet coordinate an all-out assault on a military guarded island in Montenegro. Plenty of explosions and bullets are exchanged, culminating in a worthy conclusion to a movie that delivers on both the nostalgia of the past, while also distinctly being a product of the present. Complete with an end credits sequence featuring behind the scenes footage, played over the cast singing the theme song made up entirely of lyrics about brotherhood and loyalty (and a bizarre appearance by the Japanese mini-Bruce Lee clone, Ryusei Imai), the sense of familiarity is undeniably welcome.
In 2015 Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan, Jerry Lamb, and Michael Tse made a cameo as the Young and Dangerous crew in the finale of the comedy Jian Bing Man, and many fans believed that the scene was as close as they’d get to a cast reunion, so in that regard Golden Job earns good will just for existing. In 2018 hearing Cantonese hip hop play over a scene feels like a throwback, rather than a reason to reach for the mute button (don’t worry, there’s no Edison Chen), and even Ekin Cheng’s acting seems to have improved. Perhaps it’s the passing of time from the era where Golden Job spiritually belongs which makes it an enjoyably breezy diversion, although it could certainly never be said to be anything more than that.
“JSA: Joint Security Area” Korean Theatrical Poster
Park Chan-wook’s 2000 thriller Joint Security Area (or JSA), is getting an English-language remake, which will be directed and written by David Franzoni, who is perhaps best known for penning the 2000 Ridley Scott film, Gladiator.
The remake, also titled JSA, will center on the love affair between a U.S. Marine and a female Spanish infantry lawyer who is sent by The Hague to investigate a shoot-out between Marines and Mexican special forces (via BD). Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049) and Demián Bichir (The Nun) are set to star.
Martial arts action star Michael Jai White (Blood and Bone), Josh Herdman (Harry Potter franchise), and Gina Gershon (Face/Off) are set to star in Cagefighter, an MMA-themed drama from writer-director Jesse Quinones (Calloused Hands).
In Cagefighter, an MMA champion Reiss (Herdman) unexpectedly loses a heavily promoted match. A downward spiral sends him to the brink of losing his wife (Michelle Ryan) and his best friend (Jason Maza). Deemed erratic and out of control, he alienates his long-time trainer (Jai White) and the biggest MMA promoter in the business (Gershon). He must dig deep to find a path back to victory (via Deadline/FCS)
Cagefighter is currently in pre-production phase. Stay tuned!
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