Asian Movie Reviews »
The Bride With White Hair (1993) Movie Review
The Bride With White Hair looks more like an overly produced and big budgeted stage play than an actual movie. As written and directed by Ronny Yu (with co-writer David Wu) The Bride With...
Read More »Young and Dangerous 6: Born to be King (2000) Movie Review
Young and Dangerous 6: Born to be King is the latest chapter in the Young and Dangerous series, which began in 1996 and has become something of a phenomenon in Hong Kong. There have...
Read More »Art Museum by the Zoo (1998) Movie Review
Jeong-hyang Lee’s “Art Museum by the Zoo” is not a very original movie. Let’s get that out of the way first, shall we? You’ve seen the exact same formula being played out in countless...
Read More »Second Time Around (2001) Movie Review
My never-ending enthusiasm for Time Travel movies is one of the few things I can depend on about myself. Jeffrey Lau’s Second Time Around is a Time Travel movie, and like all Time Travel...
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Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2001) Movie Review
My memory of the original Vampire Hunter D, of which Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is a sequel to, is a little hazy. The original came out in 1985 and I saw it...
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China Strike Force (2003) Movie Review
As the writer/director of a movie you know you’ve done something grossly wrong when your audience would rather spend time with your villains than with your heroes. Such is the case with Stanley Tong’s...
Read More »This is Law (2002) Movie Review
Byeong-jin Min’s first effort, This is Law, is the kind of film that should be sued for false advertisement — at least according to what the movie’s poster (as seen above) promises. Not only...
Read More »Killer 2 (2003) Movie Review
“Killer 2″ purports to be a sequel to 2000′s “Killer”, starring Jordan Chan and Simon Lui as knife assassins on the verge of retirement. But while getting into the killing business is as easy...
Read More »Expect the Unexpected (1998) Movie Review
Movies like Patrick Yau’s Expect the Unexpected needs to be seen to be believed, because it’s so good and yet so, so bad. Is such a thing even possible, you ask? Yes, Virginia, it...
Read More »In the Mood for Love (2000) Movie Review
Hong Kong writer/director Wong Kar-wai finally ditches the constraints of lousy Hong Kong filmstock and his film has never looked, or sounded, better. With his latest movie, “In the Mood for Love”, Wong has...
Read More »Chungking Express (1994) Movie Review
Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express is a romance picture with traces of Everybody’s Related conventions (see Fast Food, Fast Women for explanation). The movie is shot in standard (and dare I say it, awful) Hong...
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Whiteout (2000) Movie Review
Setsurou Wakamatsu’s Whiteout is a Die Hard In A… Movie, with a vehicle, location, or situation put in place of the ellipsis. In this case, we’re dealing with a Die Hard In a Dam....
Read More »Friend (2001) Movie Review
Kyung-taek Kwak’s “Friend” is a memoir, a recollection of memories about 4 friends and their divergent paths from childhood to school to adulthood. The film is narrated by one of the 4 friends, middle-class...
Read More »Purple Storm (1999) Movie Review
In the past few years, there has been a shift in Hong Kong filmmaking towards a more Westernized standard. Films in this group have included Gordon Chan’s 2000 A.D. and Jackie Chan’s The Accidental...
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Musa (2001) Movie Review
“Musa” tells the story of an official government convoy from Korea making its way to Nanjing, China; the convoy is under the leadership of young General Choi (Jin-mo Ju), a nobleman with a lot...
Read More »Wing Chun (1994) Movie Review
Some day someone will do a serious study of woman’s roles in Ancient China, but until then, we have Yuen Woo-ping’s Wing Chun to keep us busy. Wing Chun stars action mistress Michelle Yeoh...
Read More »Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) Movie Review
As was the case with the original Once Upon a Time in China (heretofore known as OUATIC) I don’t expect a lot of historical accuracies in Chinese movies dealing with the “outside world.” It’s...
Read More »Gen-X Cops (1999) Movie Review
At one dangerous point in Benny Chan’s Gen-X Cops, the movie’s 3 protagonists, all undercover cops, find themselves surrounded by men with guns aimed at their heads. One of the cops, thinking fast, grabs...
Read More »Sorum (2001) Movie Review
I was hesitant to watch Sorum, simply because I’ve seen too many Asian horror films that just didn’t, well, horrify me all that much. The Slow Bore Horror genre, in particular, is wearing thin,...
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Uzumaki (2000) Movie Review
Uzumaki is the story of highschooler Kirie, who opens the film with a brief voiceover introduction. We learn that Kirie lives in a small rural Japanese town with her father (her mother has passed...
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