Author: Andrew Skeates

While sometimes over indulgent and not quite as good as the first instalment, ‘The Raid 2’ is still an incredible achievement, a staggering action film and, well, just plain essential cinema.

Despite the slick visual look, kooky set up and a little too much reliance on wirework and CGI enhancement come the last third, ‘Raging Phoenix’ is really what we loved about the fight flicks from Hong Kong’s golden age.

This would-be Blockbuster is all kinds of insane silliness and tone varying madness but is actually a whole lot of over-the-top action fun.

A stylish and moody piece from one of the masters of style and mood, ‘PTU’ is a dark journey into the equally dark heart of Hong Kong where the cops are almost as corrupt as the criminals.

A gripping and often uncompromising look at the Hong Kong drug trade from the seller’s and user’s side, Derek Yee’s ‘Protégé’ is one of the finest dramas to come out of Hong Kong in recent years.

If the rest of the film had been as good as the last half hour then ‘Prince of the Sun’ would be more fondly remembered.

The laid back approach to proceedings will certainly be enjoyed by some but the film seems to take too long to get going anywhere, the suspense often diluted by a meandering pace.

Anthology horror gets the Thai treatment in this nifty, four story feature from some of Thailand’s top filmmakers.

While its uniqueness may not be for all, ‘Bunraku’ wears its quest for originality proudly on its sleeve and for the most part succeeds at offering a different take on an old Western/Samurai style set up.

‘Painted Skin 2’ ramps up the CGI spectacle and melodramatic romance, all but forgets the action and excitement and thus is a rather hollow but undeniable pretty to look at fantasy.

Not to everyone’s tastes, could have been a little shorter and hardcore Yen fans may be let down by the lack of dynamic hand-to-hand combat but ‘Painted Skin’ is still a stylish slice of fantasy filmmaking.

‘Opium and the Kung Fu Master’ is top-notch old school action but it can’t quite get away from some things that used to mar such films.