Release Year: 2023

For those of us who have grown up with Jackie Chan, this leaves quite an impression; it recalls an era of cinema, not just Hong Kong but worldwide, that will never be repeated again.

‘River’ might not reach ‘Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes’ heights of loopy brilliance, but it’s another mixture of Japanese invention and wit that is sure to please those looking for an antidote to bloated Hollywood excess.

A mix of historical drama, romantic melodrama, and frantic wuxia superhero charged action, Yen and his crew certainly go all out to create an epic and kudos to their ambition.

Beginning somewhat sombre and low key before exploding into a cavalcade of colour and crazy (talking) creatures, ‘The Boy And The Heron’ is pure unbridled Miyazaki.

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 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.

‘The Wandering Earth II’ is a marvel from a technical point of view and solid hard sci-fi that this time around manages to flesh out characters and story, all the while delivering epic scaled action.

Owing a lot to likes of ‘Evil Dead’ (and other 80s style demon/zombie/gore films) Kenichi Ugana puts enough of his own spin and Japanese style quirk into proceedings to make it his own.