Rating: 3.0

Often exciting, action packed and reminiscent of something one would happily rent during the 90s heyday of never-ending-video-store-action-film-releases.

Not to everyone’s tastes, could have been a little shorter and hardcore Yen fans may be let down by the lack of dynamic hand-to-hand combat but ‘Painted Skin’ is still a stylish slice of fantasy filmmaking.

There’s no doubt that much is wrong with ‘Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing?’, but there’s also an undeniable power of never quite knowing how the narrative will turn out.

Although Sammo and Maggie rarely create any convincing chemistry, the film contains enough action and laughs to entertain most Hong Kong fans.

‘Peninsula’ had a lot to live up to and it all looked promising with the initial turbo-charged teaser trailer. But while there is a lot to enjoy here it’s unfortunately not a case of lightning in a bottle striking twice.

Episodic like a Hui Brothers film but without the sharp humour, ‘Plain Jane To The Rescue’ is an enjoyable diversion though it may test the patience of some fans.

‘Pom Pom And Hot Hot’ is a film where a fast forward button is a necessity. Too much of the film is bogged down in very tired routines that drastically slow down the pace.

With this fourth part the formula remains in place and the whole production has the very comfortable feeling of familiarity to it.

This would-be Blockbuster is all kinds of insane silliness and tone varying madness but is actually a whole lot of over-the-top action fun.

A definite improvement over part 1, and other similar fare such as ‘China O’Brien’ – it makes for an adequate 90 minutes viewing – but ultimately reminds us why we love HK fighting so much more.

There is quite a lot going on in ‘Re-cycle’ for both the eye and mind and while its perhaps a bit too ambiguous for its own good it’s probably a film best viewed a couple or several times to fully appreciate and digest.

A modest South Korean ghost story, albeit one that retains vestigial hints of promise that only serve to indicate how great it could have been.