Genre: Drama

Unpretentious, well crafted, a great central performance and some excellent action make ‘Ichi’ a hugely enjoyable experience and refreshing take on the samurai genre.

This gentle, emollient romantic drama is further proof of my never-ending mantra that, at their very best, no film-making industry can tap into the softer emotions better than Asian cinema.

‘Illang’ looks fantastic, often thrills, and features some incredible and expertly staged action but suffers from pacing issues and a lukewarm emotional core.

Over its full running time of a modest ninety minutes, ‘In Full Bloom’ runs out of steam and the attempt at deeper layers of introspection become stilted.

Van Damme puts in a very strong leading performance and Lam helps elevate some mediocre material to a much higher status.

A good but not great film, as visually it works beautifully, but the pacing of the direction conflicts with the pace at which the story actually develops.

‘Incredible Kung Fu Mission’ is peppered with a decent mix of humour, sentimentality and superior fight action, creating a solid independent feature.

The linear narrative and lack of real danger in the story may limit what would otherwise be a sure-fire hit.

The result is every bit as slick as viewers have come to expect from the film-makers, but severely lacking in genre staples like tension or excitement.

Ultimately, ‘Invincible Enforcer’ proves such a hit or miss affair that it’s not hard to see why it has remained virtually unknown to international audiences since its release.

Chang Cheh weaves intrigue into the plot along with a clear sense of humanity and even humour.

If you’re an action fan you won’t be disappointed and for me, this is Donnie Yen’s best film to date from an acting perspective.