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The Accidental Spy
The Adventurers
All About Ah Long
Angels
Armageddon
Armour of God
Armour of God 2: Operation Condor
As Tears Go By
Ashes of Time
The Avenging Fist |
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The Accidental Spy (2001) |
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Jackie Chan's 2001 New Year offering isn't one of his very best, but it does show that Jackie is prepared to mess with the formula that has provided him with most of his hits. The plot - a middle aged salesman who grew up as an orphan gets involved in a world of espionage after being contacted by his father - contains few surprises, but director Teddy Chan's excellent handling allows for a few quiet, contemplative moments amid the obligatory stunts and fights. It also has a really bizarre ending which seems tacked on to allow JC to rock an incredible final stunt: either way, this is well worth catching. |
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Andy Lau and the delightful, delovely Rosumand Kwan star in Ringo Lam's slightly disappointing but beserk action thriller which has something to do with Cambodia and Pol Pot. It's all kind of beyond me - though I'm sure all concerned are capable of much better. |
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If proof were needed that Chow Yun Fat is more than a two-gunned action star, Jonny To's romantic melodrama about a single parent and his love/hate relationship with former girlfriend Sylvia Chang testifies. Sterling support from Ng Man Tat and some incredible scooter and motorbike stunts bolster this largely overlooked and entertaining, if overly wrought movie. |
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The film which (along with lady cop flicks like "Yes, Madam") started the girls-with-guns subgenre of Hong Kong action movies: "Angels" is a surprisingly taut and entertaining riff on "Charlie's Angels", with Moon Lee (left - cute, eh?) and her mates knocking seven bells out of a load of blokes and Yukari Oshima in a final fight that will leave the viewer wincing. The two sequels weren't as good, and few of the many rip-offs came close, but this is just fine. And it stars a Japanese actor who looks exactly like Bryan Ferry! Bonus! |
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Given a sizeable budget, Gordon Chan can work wonders: the surprising and bold “Purple Storm” is a great example. “Armageddon”, for its top cast and unusual premise, is expensive and pointless tosh. Anthony Wong seems not to be trying, Andy Lau and Michelle Reis coast by on looks, the script is all over the place and the mish-mash of conspiracy theories, secret organisations and
boring exposition do not a story make. Disappointing would be one way to describe it; bloody awful would be another. |
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Though this spawned a sequel, and nearly cost Jackie his life after falling out of a tree onto a particularly sharp rock, Armour of God is only an average JC film, saved by Jackie's exuberance, Rosamund Kwan, and an impressive final reel where Chan the man takes on a monastry full of bad guys and a pack of scary, leather clad, high-heeled women. The fighting is furious, but it's too little, too late to elevate it into the top set. |
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Armour of God 2: Operation Condor (1991) |
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A notoriously expensive production, Operation Condor is watchable but ultimately suffers from the same faults as its predecessor - it is uneven, clumsy and mostly unfunny. However, it has the same strength as its predecessor - an amazing, did-I-just-see-that finale which leaves the viewer giddy. Worth it for the last 20 minutes alone. |
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Wong Kar Wai's directorial debut is a perfectly pitched Triad romance drama starring Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung and Jackie Cheung. Though at first glance it has more in common with genre staples like Benny Chan's "Moment of Romance", it is packed with proto-WKW-isms: a beautifully restrained love story, stop-frame action scenes, and best of all, a heartbreaking reunion in the driving rain set to a Cantopop cover of "Take My Breath Away". Wowser. |
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One of those movies that you'll either love or hate, Wong Kar Wai's star-studded arthouse swordfighting movie (Leslie Cheung, both Tony Leungs, Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Jackie Cheung) is a languid, episodic study of love and loneliness. Sammo Hung's action choreography is lent a magical edge by stop-printing frames, and Chris Doyle's cinematography proves as gorgeous here as in his usual urban settings. Guess what? I love it, though be warned about buying this movie: all the current editions of the dvd are poor to say the least. |
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It's a shame that this CGI driven, "Tekken" inspired action film is a load of old claptrap, because on paper it was going to be great: huge budget, great cast (including the return to mainstream HK cinema of the Sammo Hung/Yuen Biao pairing), Corey Yuen Kwai handling the action and co-directing... But "The Avenging Fist" turns out to be mostly humourless twaddle, swamped by poor dialogue and half-sketched characters. Its saving grace is that it does look and sound fantastic, but when a movie is this empty it's hard to care. |
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