China
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Mainland beauty Bai Baihe makes a likeable, if rather implausible, lead in Aubrey Lam’s cosmetic surgery rom-com, but her endearing central performance can only obscure some of the thematic inconsistencies… Read More
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Following a string of historical martial arts epics, Donnie Yen makes his return to contemporary action films with this high-octane tale of an undercover cop torn between duty and loyalty… Read More
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For his directorial debut, Keanu Reeves chooses the somewhat bizarre choice of a martial arts tournament flick, similar to Enter The Dragon or Bloodsport, shot almost entirely on location in… Read More
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For his directorial debut, Keanu Reeves chooses the somewhat bizarre choice of a martial arts tournament flick, similar to Enter The Dragon or Bloodsport, shot almost entirely on location in… Read More
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After really enjoying Zhang Ziyi’s first foray into production, Sophie’s Revenge, I was certainly interested to see her return to the character for a second outing. However, My Lucky Star… Read More
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The Pang Brothers have had a rocky time in recent years, but their Guangzhou-set update of The Towering Inferno, they have produced their best film in years. That’s not to… Read More
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When her grandfather dies, 15-year-old Wei Wei (Xu Jiao) inherits his circus, particularly their star attraction: a baseball-playing gorilla, Ling Ling. Unfortunately, she also inherits his huge gambling debts and… Read More
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Hardly a jolly romp, Lu Chuan’s gorgeously shot drama remains to my mind the “best” film to tackle the Nanking Massacre. Most interesting is the decision to depict sympathetic Japanese… Read More
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Jet Li back doing action? Sounds great, but Badges of Fury proves to be more a goofy comedy for his co-star Wen Zhang than a kung-fu packed homage to old… Read More
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Mainland actress Zhao Wei’s directorial debut has proved a huge hit on the mainland, and for 90 minutes of its over-long 130 minutes it is a charming story of young… Read More
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Andy Lau is part James Bond, part Ethan Hunt in so bad it’s almost worth watching spy thriller. Far and away the year’s most ridiculously stupidly incoherent blockbuster, and it… Read More
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Venturing across the border I sought out the China version of Marvel’s Iron Man 3, complete with added Wang Quexi and Fan Bingbing. Was it worth it? Not at all. Read More
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The surprise champ at the Chinese Box Office, Tang Wei appears to be back in the mainland’s good books with this decent, but truth be told, fairly unexceptional comedy drama… Read More
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Newly restored by the HK Film Archive, this 1960 adaptation of Hector Malot’s novel Without Family, stars a young Josephine Siao Fong Fong as a young girl in search of… Read More
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Johnnie To heads to the mainland for this tense, absorbing thriller starring the excellent Sun Hong Lei as a dedicated cop trying to take down a complex drug operation that… Read More
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Rapper-turned-filmmaker RZA writes, directs and stars as the titular hero of this passionate love letter to old school Chinese martial arts movies. It is widely known that the founder of… Read More
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I had little interest or faith in Stephen Chow’s latest retelling of the classic Chinese fantasy, but there is some enjoyment to be had. The story, which is essentially the… Read More
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Xu Zheng writes, produces, directs and stars as Xu Lang, a scientist making a desperate dash to Thailand in order to track down his boss and secure the exclusive rights… Read More
The James Marsh film review archive 