John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

The concluding chapter of the John Wick saga (or is it?), though the door seems open to return in the future. Donnie Yen joins the cast as the blind assassin who proves to be the biggest thorn in Wick's side. Let's just say the charm of these films is beginning to wear thin and they chose the right time to close out the chapter, but they manage to do so in magnanimous fashion.

Similar to the Mission: Impossible series, these movies continue to grow and grow. This one is just shy of 3 hours. A 3-hour action flick is really hard to pull off well because you somehow have to engage and sustain interest even though the plot remains skin deep. One of the best scenes comes in the third hour, in the form of a top-down isometric video game angle, but that's only one example. There is a lot of skill involved behind the camera and that's what manages to push it from a mediocre concept into a great magic trick. Most importantly, Keanu looks cool as fuck doing it, and that's all it boils down to in the end. Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves appear to be the last of the Hollywood superstars who still do their own stunts, and both franchises go out on top.

3½ flights of stairs out of 5

Iron Monkey (1993)

A familiar set-up of a masked individual who steals from the rich to give to the poor; in this case the stealing is from a corrupt government official who hoards gold and obsesses over capturing the generous hero of the people.
The big difference is that it's a HK martial arts movie directed by Yuen Woo-ping. Combat is wildly impressive but very much on the fantastical side. The acting and ofttimes even the structure play second fiddle to it. But the skill of the performers is undeniably masterful, even from the film's youngest star, Angie Tsang (Tsang Sze-Man) as Wong Fei-Hung. Despite its failings elsewhere, Iron Monkey is a defining classic of the 90s martial arts genre.

4 named stances out of 5

Ip Man 3 (2016)

Of the Donnie films that I've seen to date, the role of Ip is the best he's been. His version of the Wing Chun master is a kind soul with a fierce conviction, and the actor's real-world ego is completely absent from the performance.
Ip's two biggest failings are not recognising that his excessive modesty, though admirable in intent, can be misconstrued as sanctimonious; and that his singular focus, a trait that's good for martial arts is sometimes bad for human relationships. An exploration of both those things are at the heart of the film.
As if in response to the previous entry, Ip's wife and son have an active role to play in the narrative; the former bringing a VERY welcome emotional layering. The most interesting of the antagonists (Zhang Jin) is the kind that struggles with his own nature; i.e. he evokes both sympathy and ire in a viewer. And finally, thankfully, the combat stays on the favourable side of realistic.

4 nourishing ideals out of 5

Special ID (2013)

A Chinese action movie in which Donnie Yen plays an undercover cop who attempts to take down a gang leader, or something... it was all so bland that I'd forgotten the majority of it seconds after it had ended.
The fight scenes are as unconvincing as the props, except for a brief moment near the end with Tian Jing, during a car chase, where it almost feels like a scene from a Police Story sequel, but it's gone as quickly as it arrived.
The relationships were empty shells. But by far the worst aspect was the music - having none at all would've served the film better than the weak rock band garbage that was used the majority of the time.

1 leg-hug out of 5

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY [2016]

Taking a slight detour from the established Skywalker family Star Wars stories, director Gareth Edwards' Rogue One remains in the same universe but delivers a far darker and violent tone.
In what is essentially a footnote in the original saga, the film tells the story of the scoundrels rebelling against the Rebels, as they go on a dangerous mission to retrieve the plans of the infamous Death Star.
Filled with all sorts of familiar faces, bridging the gaps between the two sets of trilogies, the film clearly panders to it's fans and with a quality film like this it's easy to take in.  Edwards relishes in playing in an already well-established series but he gives it his own stamp of gritty chaos that feels fresh to the universe.  There's a bit much going on in the beginning but once the action starts up it all swiftly comes together as a damned fine pulpy sci-fi thriller.

4 not very nice days on the beach out of 5

Ip Man 2 (2010)

Ip wants to open a Wing Chun school in HK but meets opposition from the existing masters. Then all goes Rocky, in more than one sense of the word.
The combat that follows is more fantastical than was in the first film, which has the knock-on effect of lessening the impact of his struggle a little. On the plus side, Sammo gets in on the action this time!
Returning characters are wasted and too many others have little or no purpose for being there; Ip's wife and child may as well not exist.
The awful overdubs of English language actors makes it impossible to take them seriously, bringing the entire film down a notch. It's almost as if Yam was attempting to sabotage his own film simply to make them appear even bigger fools. Was he really not aware of how shitty they sounded?

3 foreign devils being assholes out of 5

Highlander: Endgame (2000)

Endgame hammers another contradictory nail into the coffin of continuity for the franchise. It features both movie MacLeod and TV MacLeod (Adrian Paul, another fake Scot, he's a Londoner). Together the two heroes attempt to stop a powerful immortal who talks a lot of villainous crap from exhausting every cliché in the book before the film's end.

The first fifteen minutes lack flair but are genuinely exciting. Events take a dive thereafter amid too many flashbacks and a mess of a story. 'There can be only one as many as needed,' it seems. The post-fight ending, though horribly realised in CGI, was at least memorable.
Wiki mentions a longer Producer's Cut. I haven't seen it.

1½ tomorrows out of 5

An Empress and the Warriors (2008)

A film about duty, freedom, ambition, yadda yadda. There’s also a half-assed romantic love triangle thrown in for good measure. It’s all very efficient and safe, which is why it’s so boring. I don’t watch a Ching Siu-tung film to see safe. Where were the wild ideas and genre-breaking adventures that sometimes fall flat on their ass but impress with majestic flights of imagination while doing it? Absent, muted and suppressed.
Anyone fresh from film school could've made this formulaic crap.
I’m struggling to find something positive to say; the elaborate costumes were good, I guess, and Donie Yen almost managed to emote.

2 much hot air out of 5

Hero (2002)

A visually stunning film filled with colour and grace that was unfairly compared to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) upon release. Both films are about honour and sacrifice, but beyond that they're very different.
While Hero is technically a part of the martial arts genre, there's much more to it than mere spectacle. The feelings and motivations that fuel the fighting are of more importance, so if you choose to ignore that side of it, then you'll be getting less than half of the full story.
It gathered together some of the best actors in China, all of whom gave subtly different performances for each of the interconnected stories.
Composer Tan Dun's score is as beautiful as Yimou's imagery.

5 flickering flames out of 5

Cause: The Birth of Hero (2002)

A documentary by Gan Lu about the making of Zhang Yimou’s Hero (2002) that’s almost twice as long as the film it documents. It’s a tedious, amateur film with no thought put into construction or presentation. The audio drops in and out frequently and the organisation is appallingly bad. It fails to capture the essence of its subject. It feels instead like a cheaply made wedding video, replete with wind noise and half-assed framing. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to watch it more than once.

1 wrap party out of 5

Once Upon a Time in China 2 (1992)

OUaTiC 2 was the 100th film to depict the life of Wong Fei-Hung, so they needed to do something special to mark the occasion. Both Jet Li and Rosamund Kwan reprise their respective roles. They got Donnie Yen to join in the action this time; he gets frenetic with his pole.
The first half focusses mainly on character development, and the second half on action. There was no way they could surpass the ladder scene from the previous film, but they gave it a damn good try.

3½ needles in the face out of 5

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010)

aka: Fist of Fury: The Legend of Chen Zhen

Chen Zhen was originally played by Bruce Lee and then by Jet Li; if anyone is qualified enough to follow those two, then it's surely Donnie Yen.
The film picks up seven years after the events of Fist of Legend (1994). Chen is living in post-war Shanghai, which remains under Japanese control. He longs to see a China free from oppression, but he's forced to keep a low profile lest he draw attention to the underground resistance.
The story could've been better, it really stretches the credibility of the Chen Zhen character, but the martial arts scenes are as violent as ever and the film is visually impressive.

3½ Kato masks out of 5

New Dragon Gate Inn (1992)

aka: Dragon Inn

A remake of King Hu's earlier Dragon Inn (1967) film. A power hungry eunuch, in employ of the Emperor but acting without his consent, sends his secret Black Arrow Troop to capture and kill the children of an army commander so that his goal of ruling China can get underway.
A quick scan of the people involved lets you know that you're in for a kinetic, balletic storm of action. It's a comedy/action wuxia adventure that takes some time to get going, but like all good wuxia films the ending is simply amazing; it even manages to do things that I'd not seen before anywhere else.

3½ drifting duckweeds out of 5

Ip Man (2008)

A film based on the life of Ip Man, a master of the Chinese Wing Chun martial art. Choreography is by the great Sammo Hung; it's grounded in reality but crosses into the fantastical just a little.
It's light-hearted fare in the first act, but soon much of the colour drains away and things turn deadly serious and deeply political. There's a very occasional slip into melodrama, but it's always brief.
Donnie's martial arts ability is flawless as always. Normally his acting is just above average, so I'm happy to say he delivers the finest performance I've ever seen him do; it too was flawless.

4½ bags of rice duly earned out of 5

Blade II (2002)

About 50% of Blade II is devoted to noisy and nauseating fight scenes that get boring fast. Consequently, the other 50% leaves characterisation time almost nil. Everything that happens is much too convenient. There’s this guy and this other guy comes along and then ninjas and then this new guy needs a scene so he can get in a ten minute fight later.
The only joys I got from it was seeing Donnie Yen in bad eye-liner and recognising things that were clearly a trial run for Del Toro’s far superior Hellboy films.
I should mention also that, beyond all reasoning, Luke Goss was surprisingly very good.

2 doses of suckpuppy nut juice out of 5

Wu Xia (2011)

I went into this movie hoping for spectacular action scenes, and while it delivered on that front, I wound up getting a whole lot more as well. Wu Xia combines martial arts with film noir and elements of Sherlock Holmes, and it comes together beautifully, elevated by some stunning visuals.

I'm a sucker for a good intellectual stand-off, and I got that here. Donnie Yen is one of the greatest action stars working today, but he also has some acting talent, and gives his best performance to date here. My only real complaint is that the movie's a bit unoriginal, but I don't need a film to reinvent the wheel when it's as entertaining as this one.

4.5 one-armed swordsmen out of 5.

Wing Chun (1994)

Michelle Yeoh kicks some bad guy butt and makes it look effortless.
Along the way there are some moments of slapstick comedy and innuendo for shits and giggles. The film is a kinetic blast of masterful action set pieces produced and directed by Yuen Woo-ping. Action choreography by Woo-ping and Donnie Yen. That’s really all you need to know to want to watch it.

4 belly busters out of 5

Butterfly and Sword (1993)

Aka: San Lau Sing Woo Dip Gim

Take some flying assassins, arms, legs and heads severed frequently, beautiful women and an awkward love triangle, add to giant pot and stir. The resulting mix has action galore but some very clumsy storytelling interspersed. It's an adaptation of a martial arts novel by Gu Long, but I've no idea how faithful it is. Best bit: a sword technique where the hero literally rips through the torso of an antagonist and comes out his back! Jebus wept! It’s brutal and hilarious all at the same time.

3 bamboo and bendy swords out of 5