Writer: Lau Ho-Leung

It has numerous nods to the Shaw Brothers classics and harks back to those swordplay flicks of yesteryear, making you smile, cry, jump for joy and shout like a banshee, like any good martial arts film should.

It’s doubtful whether even non-action audiences will be fully satisfied by this entertaining, but insubstantial production

Those jonesing for action may feel the pace sag, but ‘Bruce Lee, My Brother’ is a brilliant period family drama.

Lau Ho-Leung has made a solid crime thriller that benefits from its rough and ready approach, decent action, and an intriguing real-life case.

Even though it is littered with flaws, I feel I can’t give ‘Dragon Squad’ the complete thumbs down as it is one of those films that could easily pass for a guilty pleasure.

‘Kung Fu Killer’, despite its B-movie title and the odd moment of cheesiness, comes very close to bringing back the elation one felt when watching golden era Hong Kong action cinema.

The driving force of the film is Dayo Wong’s strutting performance – an aspect that viewers will either love or loathe – and the outrageous scenes of various losers battling on the karaoke stage.

It’s a pleasure to see Jordan Chan given a lead role in a major production and his cowardly cook is a delightful antithesis to ‘Chicken’ from the series that made his name.

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.

Some of the more eccentric moments do inspire a wry smile, but nothing to fully salvage the end product.

When the closing credits rolled, I opined that I had lost a full ninety minutes that would’ve been better used watching one of these sub-genres more accomplished works.

Though ‘The Great Magician’ recalls films like ‘The Prestige’ and ‘The Illusionist’, Derek Yee’s offering is much lighter in tone.