Heroic Duo (2003)

An upstanding HK police officer commits a crime against his own station, but he doesn't know why. Tough cop Ken Li (Ekin Cheng) is on the case, but he needs help, so enlists hypnotist and convicted criminal Jack Lai (Leon Lai).
There's a recurring theme of weaknesses being either overcome in time of need or preyed upon by a stronger willed individual; and because everyone in the film has a secret that they're guarding, they're all vulnerable to attack.
It has some neat ideas that are forced to share space with obligatory action scenes, but overall the film is too scattershot for my liking. An attentive rewrite that brought strengths to the fore and evened out everything else could've made a huge difference to the final product.

2½ unlocks 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