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It’s John Woo all right, but turned all the way up to 11!… (more…)

The latest from Kim Ji-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Quiet Family), a slick tale of that revenge resounds with amazing style and wit, but ultimately do we really care?… (more…)

This impressive debut by the Pang brothers is a heady mix of dazzling imagery and a violent tale of love, betrayal and redemption… (more…)

A super slick thriller from Benny Chan (Heroic Duo, Gen-X Cops, A Moment of Romance) - but easy on the melodrama!… (more…)

Johnnie To’s triad epic may not offer anything new to the gangster genre, but his ensemble cast are a delight to watch… (more…)

It’s time for another Election, but can there really be any winners in Johnnie To’s vision of Hong Kong turbulent and violent underworld?… (more…)

Another rather convincing slice of the Hong Kong triad gang world from Election director Johnnie To – with an ensemble cast to die for!… (more…)

The latest teaming of director Wilson Yip and star/action choreographer Donnie Yen (Dragon Tiger Gate, S.P.L.) brings the sort of top-notch martial arts we’ve come to expect – so why is it so light on action? (more…)

It’s John Woo at his most brutal and explosive, but Woo fans beware - there was a reason this film originally stayed on the shelf for a couple of years… (more…)

A martial arts movie star famous for his stunts? Now who could Wong Jing be lampooning in this Jet Li vehicle?… (more…)

They don’t come much slicker than this - Tony Leung and Andy Lau shine in this classy thriller… (more…)

The beginnings of Superintendent Wong and Sam’s feud are revealed in this solid, enjoyable prequel to a modern classic. It’s far more than just a re-run of the original… (more…)

Hong Kong’s most successful trilogy finally runs out of steam with a disappointing (and frankly rather pointless) finale – those Godfather comparisons continue… (more…)

The Fast and The Furious gets the Hong Kong treatment, but will this appeal to anyone other than boy racers?… (more…)

Heralded as something of a return to heyday of Hong Kong action movies, Invisible Target isn’t quite that, but it sure ain’t half bad.

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Little Red Riding Hood retold as a psychological thriller from the director of Ghost In The Shell and Patlabor – but just who exactly is the wolf? (more…)

Bound to become a flawed, beautiful classic, Park Chan-wook’s final instalment in his revenge trilogy is a master class in the making… (more…)

Danny Lee (The Killer, City On Fire) in the film that made him a star… (more…)

Yet more Jackie Chan films from the archives, but do we really need them in ‘Ultra-bit’ quality?… (more…)

Some six years after it was originally released this Korean classic has finally been made available in the UK - but has it been worth the wait?… (more…)

A return to form for Jackie, but this could be way too sentimental for Western action audiences… (more…)

Director Park Chan-wook’s follow-up to Sympathy for Mr Vengeance is an even better twisted tale of revenge… (more…)

A full blown strike to the cranium of Hollywood, Tony Jaa steps up as the successor to Bruce Lee’s crown in a real old school knockabout kung fu movie that doesn’t rely on CGI or wirework… (more…)

A tense and intelligent psychological Anime thriller (yes - ANIME!)…

Fed up with watching the likes of Will Young or Kelly on your TV screens, thought you might have a go yourself? Take heed, being a pop idol might not be as easy as you think…

Mima Kirigoe is the lead singer with a popular girl band, on the cusp of quitting them to concentrate on acting. Led more by her management than her own desires, it’s a decision that doesn’t please all her fans - particularly the pale, crazily obsessed ‘Me-mania’. When she lands a role in a popular murder mystery series, her life begins to fall apart.

She begins receiving threats that become all the more deadly as she takes on a controversial rape plot line in the show. When she discovers a web site that contains a diary that describes all her secret thoughts and feelings, the line between reality and fantasy begin to blur. As a murder begins to kill those connected to Mima, we follow her deeper into a nightmare existence where nothing makes sense.

With more than a hint of Hitchcock, Satoshi Kon’s debut movie throws us headlong into this world, continually pulling the rug from under our feet until the mystery is revealed. It’s also a wry look at the empty, superficial life of the celebrity. Mima is as shut off from the world or any real friends as her obsessive fan. Beyond her public persona, her sense of her own identity has been completely lost.

This is the perfect example of how powerful and intelligent a medium animation can be, something only Japanese Anime seems to be taking advantage of. Not to be dismissed it as ‘just a cartoon’.

A worthy successor to director Derek Yee’s One Night In Mongkok with a fantastic performance by Andy Lau, but a lack of true menace in the film stops this just short of being a classic… (more…)

Somewhat derivative but well played sci-fi action flick - a welcome alternative to the lame Matrix sequels… (more…)

Corey Yuen and Daniel Lai co-direct this superb comic book nonsense… (more…)

Director Jingle Ma (Silver Hawk) and star Tony Leung (In The Mood For Love, Infernal Affairs) re-unite for a belated but rather disappointing follow-up to Tokyo Raiders… (more…)

Three ass kicking babes in some of the best action sequences in ages - Charlies Angels eat your heart out… (more…)

A triumph of autonomy over consequence, what begins as a sharp comedy blurring the lines between reality and fiction quickly devolves into a banal mess that an art student might be ashamed of (sorry Beat!)… (more…)

The impressive feature debut from Tsui Hark (Seven Swords, Zu: Warriors from Magic Mountain) that kick started the Hong Kong ‘new wave’ of the 80s… (more…)

Crying Fist director Ryoo Seung-hwan out Kill Bill’s Tarantino in this enjoyable Korean action movie with some real crowd-pleasing scenes… (more…)

Michelle Yeoh both produces and stars in this good looking, enjoyable action film by Peter Pau, the Oscar-winning cinematographer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But as possibly the first Hong Kong/Chinese production entirely in English, does it work?… (more…)

A shameless cash in on the Hong Kong pop phenomenon the Twins lands them in Buffy territory, but this very stupid comedy has some of the best fight scenes around… (more…)

A well-made but rather predicable and simplistic Korean action thriller… (more…)

Zhang Che’s landmark film - a bitter tale of revenge and the template for every kung fu movie of the seventies… (more…)

Director Prachya Pinkaew and stars Tony Jaa and Phetthai Wongkhamlao reunite for what is effectively a slicker remake of Ong-Bak, but a lot less fun… (more…)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s Chow Yun-fat gives one of the finest performances of his career in his third and best collaboration with director Ringo Lam. But action fans expecting the high octane experience of Full Contact beware… (more…)

An outdated and disappointing war movie from Hong Kong’s most successful export John Woo… (more…)

‘Beat’ Takeshi’s (Violent Cop, Battle Royale) reinvention of the popular 60s samurai b-movie character for the 21st century, the blind, gambling masseur who also happens to be a master swordsman… (more…)