Genre: Drama

What starts off as quite interesting and engaging becomes progressively more disjointed meaning drama and characters suffer.

The varied cast which includes Tse, Ge You and CN Blue member Jung Yong-Hwa make it an appealing 90 minutes of over-the-top cook-offs, snappy comedy and melodrama.

The editing is enough to cause seasickness and confusion, while Jet’s opponents are nothing but meathead wrestlers and a criminally underused Mark Dacascos.

Full of humanity and interest, it remarkably manages to takes three or four strong sub-plots and amalgamate them together without letting any of them suffer.

‘Kingdom of Storms’ certainly gives it a good go at adapting the ancient tale for the big screen even though it buckles slightly under its lofty ambitions and reliance on copious CGI. 

This isn’t a Jackie Chan film, it’s a very entertaining and absorbing action-thriller that just so happens to have a strong central performance from a man called Chan.

This is probably one of the most acrobatic Venoms films as they participate in some extremely complicated routines that are brilliantly put together.

The fights are almost seamlessly integrated and amongst some of the best on offer for a few years even if they are not new by Jade screen standards.

‘Crying Fist’ feels fresh and exciting thanks to the considerable skills of its director, the novel use of two storylines happening at the same time and the excellent performances of the leads.

This is still the kind of delicate drama that has enough of a hook to keep the audience enthralled until the end.

‘Curse Of The Golden Flower’ is another sign of the growing confidence of Chinese cinema, the imagination of Zhang Yimou and the iconic status of Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat.

If you give it a go it can be a rewarding and all together different movie viewing experience and shows the director is a gifted talent who can switch from gentle and beautiful to the dark and the violent with ease and skill.