Release Year: 2012

Johnnie To charges out the gate with ‘Drug War’: a blitz of tension, style and almost unrelenting momentum.

‘Fairy Tale Killer’ tries so hard to be an intelligent thriller that it forgets to be thrilling or exciting.

‘For Love’s Sake’ has sporadic moments of brilliance but falls short of being the fast, fun and feisty musical action teen romance it could have been.

Strange, gross, manic and bonkers are all good terms to help describe ‘GYO’ but the film is also curiously gripping.

Though ‘Helpless’ features characters that are genre staples the acting has enough of an edge to divert attention away from clichés. A fine thriller, a solid drama and two hours of quality entertainment.

Sparse of budget and meaningful dialogue, the film instead sticks to its high-kicking guns and delivers a surfeit of high impact fight scenes.

‘Lost in Thailand’ is a remarkable debut for writer/director Xu Zheng, especially as his turn as the film straight man is also so impeccable.

‘Pork Of Music’ is probably the best of the series, full of beautiful moments, delicate satire and heart-warming artwork.

‘Motorway’ is a stripped down action thriller that dispenses with such luxuries as sub-plots to concentrate fully on the battle between cops and robbers.

‘One Piece Film: Z’ is a really good ‘One Piece’ movie. It has some very solid animation, plenty of action and an engaging story that genuinely feels connected to the show.

‘Painted Skin 2’ ramps up the CGI spectacle and melodramatic romance, all but forgets the action and excitement and thus is a rather hollow but undeniable pretty to look at fantasy.

Beneath the simple premise is a dissection of friendship and finding one’s place in society that is about as good as cinema has ever shown.