Chinese Movie Reviews »
Viva Erotica (1996) Movie Review
For those familiar with Hong Kong cinema, the term “Cat III” conjures up images of sex for the sake of gratuitous sex. Hong Kong films that fall into the Cat III rating belong in...
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Wu Yen (2001) Movie Review
“Wu Yen” looks like a play turned into a movie, but without all the trappings of a “movie world” and everything associated with that. The film purports to tell the “real” story of the...
Read More »Bio Zombie (1998) Movie Review
More “Return of the Living Dead” than “Night of the Living Dead”, the Hong Kong salute to Zombies Attack film “Bio Zombie” is funnier and more effective than you would think at first glance....
Read More »Saviour of the Soul (1991) Movie Review
“Savior of the Soul”, made in 1991, is the epitome of Hong Kong action cinema cranked out during that particular era. The modus operandi of films in this category involves juvenile high jinks in...
Read More »The Touch (2002) Movie Review
If Michelle Yeoh’s starring vehicle “The Touch” has parts of it that looks familiar, it’s probably not because it shares more than a few surface resemblances to the “Indiana Jones” movies as many reviewers...
Read More »Running Out of Time (1999) Movie Review
Don’t let the cover of the Hong Kong movie “Running Out of Time” fool you. The film, about a dying man (Andy Lau) who challenges a brilliant cop (Ching Wan Lau) to catch him...
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Three (2002) Movie Review
The new Asian anthology movie “Three”, in which 3 directors from 3 different countries craft individual tales unrelated to the other 2, should have been called “One”, and the only writer/director who should have...
Read More »What Price Survival (1994) Movie Review
If “What Price Survival” proves anything, it’s that the Chinese, and most Asians in general, consider melodrama as essential as breathing air or having a bowl of rice for dinner. I’m not being facetious...
Read More »Infernal Affairs (2002) Movie Review
Almost everyone familiar with Hong Kong films knows the names Andrew Lau, Andy Lau, and Tony Leung. (Andrew and Andy are not the same person, if you were wondering.) Andrew Lau (“Sausalito”) is a...
Read More »Hero (2003) Movie Review
Much of your ability to appreciate the finer points of Zhang Yimou’s “Hero” depends on your knowledge of Chinese culture and history. This doesn’t mean those of us completely unaware of the country’s monumental...
Read More »So Close (2003) Movie Review
I guess you really couldn’t say that Hong Kong filmmakers are trying to capitalize on the success of “Charlie’s Angels”, since I can think back to the early ’90s when “The Heroic Trio” made...
Read More »Gorgeous (1999) Movie Review
Leave it to Jackie Chan to do a romantic comedy and not have a single kissing scene in the entire thing. (Unless you count the film’s outtakes, which play over the end credits; one...
Read More »Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2001) Movie Review
Besides the title and the presence of a man wearing Kato-inspired threads, “Black Mask 2: City of Masks” has little in common with the original “Black Mask” starring Jet Li. The original was produced/co-written...
Read More »Naked Weapon (2002) Movie Review
Imagine my surprise when “Naked Weapon”, a movie written by Jing Wong, the man behind such lackluster fare as “The Duel” and “High Risk”, turned out to be one of the more entertaining films...
Read More »So Close to Paradise (1998) Movie Review
I must admit that the Chinese film “So Close to Paradise” surprised me. At first I found the film to be lacking and uninteresting and its acting to be spotty at times. But as...
Read More »Enforcer (aka My Father is a Hero, 1995) Movie Review
Besides offering us a chance to see Jet Li pretend he knows how to smoke (which he really doesn’t, natch), “Enforcer” (or “My Father is a Hero”, which is the more appropriate title in...
Read More »Sausalito (2000) Movie Review
“Sausalito” is a Hong Kong movie starring Chinese actors, but set entirely in San Francisco. The film is essentially a Romance, but not a Romantic Comedy since there’s little comedy to be had. It...
Read More »2002 (2001) Movie Review
Nicholas Tse (Time and Tide) stars as Chiu, the only cop in a department within the Hong Kong Police Department designated “2002″ that deals with supernatural occurrences around the city. (Don’t ask, I don’t...
Read More »Devil Face, Angel Heart (2002) Movie Review
Question: How do you know a film has little (to no) faith in its screenplay (re: its story)? Answer: When the screenwriter’s name doesn’t even appear in the opening credits, you know you’re in...
Read More »The Killer (1989) Movie Review
“The Killer” marks probably the best Yun-Fat/Woo team up as star/director, respectively. After the runaway success of “A Better Tomorrow,” the two men became international sensations, and “The Killer” solidified their reputations for all...
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