Genre: Drama

‘The Flower And The Angry Waves’ is a great little film, as worthy of attention as any of Suzuki’s later films or indeed of any fellow period films.

As it begins to appear that this will be another unfunny Japanese comedy where kookiness is more valued than originality or wit, the film changes direction and goes some way to redeeming itself.

Classy, tense, complex and delivering some fine tuned action scenes: ‘The Foreigner’ is a well crafted film that gives Chan one of his best roles.

Wisely building to the big combat scenes, ‘The Front Line’ lets us, the viewer, get to know the characters and watch them transform through their actions and what they must go through to survive.

Not only does it contain some of Stephen Chow’s most finely honed comedy, but it also sees him giving one of his more heartfelt and dramatic performances.

Despite its flaws, ‘The Goldfinger’ is an entertaining and well-acted piece of cinema with the highlights being the face-to-face meetings of Lau and Leung throughout the film.

‘The Grand Grandmaster’ barely has enough good material for a TikTok clip though and it should be noted that this drudgery goes on for a full two hours.

There is no arguing that it is an entrancingly shot piece of work with some typically eye-catching Yuen Woo-Ping action choreography.

Though ‘The Great Magician’ recalls films like ‘The Prestige’ and ‘The Illusionist’, Derek Yee’s offering is much lighter in tone.

Only in Japan would a book like ‘The Great Passage’ catch the public imagination, only in Japan would someone then think that this might translate to the big screen and only in Japan would it be a rousing success.

While certainly mounted on a sometimes epic scale and beautifully shot, Lau’s film disappoints due to rushed character motivations, unconvincing drama and an excessive use of slow motion.

‘The Harvest’ is a slow-burning, independent take on inter-generational tension, focused on the patient reveal rather than the spectacular twist and in this way it feels much more relatable.