Author: Andrew Saroch

‘The Way We Were’ just doesn’t know what its heritage is and squanders a good concept for needless in-jokes while Liu Kai-Chi deserves a much stronger vehicle and Fiona Sit is woefully underused.

‘The Way We Are’ is a gentle production about an act of kindness flowering into a friendship and how simple events can create a long-standing link between people who are initially strangers.

Featuring a number of laugh-out-loud moments that undoubtedly transcend traditional language barriers, this is a heart-warming production that squeezes every last drop of entertainment value from its concept.

‘The Water Margin’ is the kind of grandiose masterwork that is enthralling and, despite the presence of three accomplished directors, has a remarkable consistency to it.

‘Warriors Two’ is not intended to explore characters in the way later Sammo works would do, but remains firmly rooted in the action of the genre.

‘The War of The Arrows’ is the kind of confident blockbuster that swaggers onto the screen, stays for a noisy, incident-filled two hours and gallops off into the night.

‘Wait ‘Til You’re Older’ is commercial film-making at its most polished, yet contains a few brave decisions by director Teddy Chen.

‘Villain and Widow’ is a witty comic creation that has so much more punch than many of its Korean contemporaries.

‘Villain’ is not a whodunnit – the identity of the killer is uncovered early on in the film. It is, however, a whydidtheydoit (that’s not going to catch on is it) and quite an excellent one too.

‘The Victim’ is a fine mixture of action comedy and even drama – three elements that director Sammo Hung juggles with masterful dexterity.

‘The Unmatchable Match’ is a good example of an unremarkable synopsis getting better as the film takes hold. For a pre-comedy Chow vehicle, this is nothing for the Cantonese superstar to be ashamed of.

The enjoyment that is had from viewing this modest, yet mostly rewarding production is that it is a character piece that avoids action or histrionics.