Latest From Chinese Movie Reviews

Dance of a Dream (2001) Movie Review

When it comes to ballroom dancing, I’m an ant working around an anthill — re: I am clueless. Having said that, I couldn’t tell you if the actors in Andrew Lau’s Dance of a Dream actually knew what they’re doing or if they were butchering their ballroom dance steps. Dance...

May 20th, 2002 | Read More

Tokyo Raiders (2000) Movie Review

Tokyo Raiders is an action/comedy that stars one of my favorite Hong Kong actors, Tony Leung, who plays a dashing private investigator/ spy/ government agent/ ladies man. Prolific actor Ekin Cheng once again rears his head along with another favorite, Cecilia Cheung. The film purports to include a scene...

May 11th, 2002 | Read More

Skyline Cruisers (2000) Movie Review

There are a lot of differences between a Heist film and a Caper film. A Caper film concerns itself with looking “cool” as its protagonists steal from or break into high-tech security systems, buildings, etc. using gadgets that won’t be invented for another 50 years or so. Heist films...

May 11th, 2002 | Read More

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) Movie Review

Ang Lee’s movies always find a way to surprise me. Maybe that’s why I like them so much — I go in not expecting much, but come out having learned a lot about life. Ang Lee’s oddly titled 1994 Taiwanese film Eat Drink Man Woman is one of those movies that draws you in and surprises...

May 10th, 2002 | Read More

Avenging Fist (2001) Movie Review

Hong Kong actor Ekin Cheng (Second Time Around) is prolific, but unfortunately it’s the kind of prolific that goes for quantity over quality. I can scarcely sit down to watch a Hong Kong film without seeing the man’s name attached to it in one form or another. Most recently Cheng has been...

May 9th, 2002 | Read More

The Bride With White Hair 2 (1993) Movie Review

Ronny Yu’s The Bride With White Hair 2 is a good example of a sequel that shouldn’t have been, and the two White Hair films, put together, is a good example of a movie that shouldn’t have been cut in half and made into two separate films. White Hair 2 opens with a flashback to The...

May 4th, 2002 | Read More

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 White Hair looks overproduced, overacted, but strangely simplified in story. Hong Kong regular Leslie Cheung stars...

April 27th, 2002 | 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 been so many sequels, prequels, and spin-offs that it’s hard to keep track of them all. Having heard so much about...

April 25th, 2002 | 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 movies, it utilizes a fantastical plot device to get our hero back in time, and employs the Back to the Future...

April 20th, 2002 | Read More

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 China Strike Force, a Hong Kong production with an international cast that purports to take...

April 14th, 2002 | 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 as picking up a knife, getting out isn’t quite so easy, as our heroes quickly...

April 12th, 2002 | 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 is. Expect the Unexpected is a movie that looks like a TV show trying to fake its way into being a low-budget...

April 11th, 2002 | 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 completely shed any semblance of “fake action” that existed in the two...

April 10th, 2002 | 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 Kong filmstock which means much of the film is scratched, there are unintentional...

April 9th, 2002 | 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 Spy. Both films are centered around “high-concept” plot, an integration of high-tech...

April 2nd, 2002 | 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 (Supercop) as the titular character, a kung fu master in a small coastal town who defends the weak,...

March 28th, 2002 | 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 unfortunately a common problem with a lot of movies regardless of country of origin when...

March 23rd, 2002 | 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 the gangsters’ boss who is standing nearby and uses him as a human shield. The...

March 23rd, 2002 | Read More

Once Upon a Time in China (1991) Movie Review

Jet Li’s 1990s Hong Kong career had him reprising two parts, Fong Sai-yuk and Wong Fei-hung, in a series of films starring either character. Both are supposed to be real historical figures, although I’m quite sure that like Americans Billy the Kid and Jesse James, both Fong and Wong’s...

March 14th, 2002 | Read More

The Tai Chi Master (aka Twin Warriors, 1993) Movie Review

I can’t tell you how many Hong Kong period martial arts movies I’ve seen, and I can’t tell you how many of those involves strangers joining a group of good rebels to fight the evil Imperial [insert imperial title here] in a country town. It’s all been done before, so much so that...

March 8th, 2002 | Read More