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Painted Skin: The Resurrection (2012, Wuershan)
Painted Skin: The Resurrection is an unpleasant experience, straddling the fence between stupid and bad. The script, from Ran Ping and Ran Jia-nan, is the weakest link. This magnificent, grandiose...
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Wu Dang (2012, Patrick Leung)
Wu Dang is a mix of a martial arts competition picture and Indiana Jones. Director Leung never quite emphasizes the 1920s setting, partially because of the plot–the action moves quickly to a timeless...
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The Assassins (2012, Zhao Linshan)
Despite its opening–a training camp for turning kidnapped peasant children into killers–The Assassins is actually a manor drama. Sure, it’s a Chinese manor drama, but it’s a manor drama. The action...
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Tai Chi Zero (2012, Stephen Fung)
Presumably the Zero in Tai Chi Zero‘s title indicates a second installment is forthcoming, because this one ends on two cliffhangers. The film joyously embraces its artificiality–there’s no attempt at...
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Dangerous Liaisons (2012, Hur Jin-ho)
An adaptation of something like Dangerous Liaisons–where the ending isn’t just assured, but probably familiar to the viewer–requires good actors and an interesting approach. This version of Liaisons...
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The Great Magician (2011, Yee Tung-Shing)
The Great Magician is a madcap romp through rural early twentieth century China. It never says rural–Peking is mentioned a couple times–but it feels rural, where a somewhat dimwitted warlord (Lau...
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Iron Man 3 (2013, Shane Black)
Iron Man 3 feels a lot like the end of the series, which isn’t a bad thing–Robert Downey Jr. does the hero’s journey thing quite well–but director Black handles it oddly. After spending the entire...
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Tai Chi Hero (2012, Stephen Fung)
Tai Chi Hero basks in its extravagance. Whether it’s the kung fu fighting, the battle scenes (these are different types of scenes) or just the imaginative steampunk gadgets, Hero always invites the...
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Looper (2012, Rian Johnson)
A lot of Looper is a film noir set in the near future. Criminal–but basically good guy–Joseph Gordon-Levitt ends up on a farm, as de facto protector to a young woman (Emily Blunt) and her kid. Except...
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Drug War (2012, Johnnie To)
Who would have thought a movie just called Drug War would be so amazing? The original Chinese title appears to be just as simple, director To and his amazing batch of writers–War is the probably the...
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Ashes of Time (1994, Wong Kar-wai), the redux edition
I never know how to describe Ashes of Time. The first–and probably last–time I tried, I described it as a mix of Magnolia and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. As difficult as it is to describe, it’s got...
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Missing (2008, Tsui Hark)
As Missing‘s end credits rolled, I could only think one thing–this movie is actually going to end. After the two dozen false endings in the third act, it really does feel like it’s never going to stop....
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Blood: The Last Vampire (2009, Chris Nahon)
What a disaster. It seems like it should be a good idea… wait, no, it doesn’t. The only time Blood: The Last Vampire works is when it’s a homoerotic romance between Jun Ji-hyun and Allison Miller. The...
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My Blueberry Nights (2007, Wong Kar-wai)
I wonder what the reaction to My Blueberry Nights would have been if it were Wong Kar-wai’s first film instead of just his first English language film. Everything I’ve seen in way of critical reaction...
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