Genre: Martial Arts

It’s hard not to be drawn into director Wang Yu’s eccentric world with its almost Python-esque techniques and fights.

A few fight scenes pull one back from catatonia, but mostly this is a failure without the luxury of budget constraints to blame its incompetence on.

Competently directed by the legendary Yuen Woo-Ping and utilising a decent budget, ‘Master Z’ is pleasingly straight-forward, action soaked entertainment.

Chang Cheh delivers a multi-layered kung-fu drama that is ripe with excellent characterisation and well-choreographed action.

‘Merantau’ is a good-looking film, but in every other department it is just a touch too average to stand out from the crowd.

Newcomers will enjoy the fight action, the slightly more experienced will also appreciate the comedy and the veteran viewer will be entertained by the great cast.

Jackie openly admits that this film was intended to answer the critics who saw him as just an action star/director. What an answer it proved to be!

A nutty, wondrous and at times exhilarating action adventure, ‘Mirage’ encapsulates all of the elements that generated such impetus during Hong Kong cinema’s 80s swansong.

Donnie Yen takes on a role similar to the one he played in ‘Drunken Tai Chi’ and once again shows how effortless it is for him to combine incredible physical aptitude with a pleasing screen persona.

This is a film that begins with optimism only to quickly revert to the old formula that had been so over-used.

The bottom line is that ‘Monkey Kung Fu’ is a highly recommended gem with a cast that doesn’t feature the genres big names, but still outshines many better known films.

Instead of just relying on popular new-wave gimmicks, Sammo pushes each of the actors to their limit and, even though there is liberal use of stunt doubles, the effect is impressive to behold.