Genre: Fantasy

‘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. 

‘Crocodile Island’ is deadly earnest which doesn’t quite work when characters are facing spiders the size of a shire horse.

Despite its strengths and a bit of nostalgia for those of us who remember that early-90s aesthetic, ‘Crystal Fortune Run’ is less than the sum of its parts.

Kwak Jae-Young has a PhD in stirring emotions and this film has more heart-pulling moments of manipulative magic than a room full of kittens playing with balls of string.

I’m normally a sucker for a cheesy monster movie but ‘D-War’ fails to produce the goods on just about every level.

A Japanese monster movie with a samurai twist, ‘Daimajin’ from 1966 is a slowburn film that is part period drama and part giant stone man Kaiju extravaganza.

If you like your early 90s wuxia flicks full of excessive theatrical action and characters then ‘Deadful Melody’ is a lot of fun.

A deeply unfunny comedy from director Taylor Wong who allows all pace and narrative flair to disappear out of the window after the first ten minutes.

Right from the opening, it’s blatantly obvious that ‘Death Note’ is skipping some of the more important and enjoyable aspects of the story.

‘Death Trance’ isn’t quite as good as ‘Versus’ but is nevertheless a visually striking, always creative and if a little slow in pace at stages, still packed with great Eastern flavoured action.

Mainstream Hong Kong cinema has often embraced the bizarre and the baffling, but ‘Demon Of The Lute’ may be a step too far for many.

Impressive production values, an excellent cast and a few moments of genuine inspiration (courtesy of Sammo Hung’s action choreography) make the minutes fly be.