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Film reviews
Hollywood blockbusters, local greats, European movies, Japanese and Korean dramas, animation, art house films, you can find them all here.
Patrick Tam in a still from Fight for Tomorrow.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Fight for Tomorrow: Patrick Tam shines in Hong Kong gangster drama

Patrick Tam plays a washed-up ex-gang boss who reunites with his son (Locker Lam) in this gritty yet hopeful crime story.

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American cinema

Review | F1: The Movie – Brad Pitt in fun but clichéd motor-racing drama

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American cinema

Review | Elio: Pixar’s take on E.T. is a rare misfire, despite looking great

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Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Pavane for an Infant: Fish Liew in absorbing Malaysian ‘baby hatch’ drama

Fish Liew and Natalie Hsu star in Chong Keat Aun’s film about a centre for abandoned babies in Malaysia that draws violent criticism.

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Fish Liew in a still from Pavane for an Infant.
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Hi-Five: Korean superhero fantasy with Yoo Ah-in fails to meet its potential

Starring Yoo Ah-in, Ra Mi-ran, Lee Jae-in and with K-pop star Park Jin-young, Hi-Five features a promising premise that it never lives up to.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Behind the Shadows: Louis Koo plays detective in Malaysia-set thriller

The story of the hunt for a serial killer whose most riveting aspect is the marital woes of a detective (Louis Koo), this film misses a beat.

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American cinema

Review | How to Train Your Dragon: middling live-action makeover

A vivacious cast lifts this live-action remake of DreamWorks fantasy cartoon about Vikings battling dragons, but the film is much too long.

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Mason Thames (left) and Nico Parker in a still from How to Train Your Dragon. Photo; Handout
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Valley of the Shadow of Death: Anthony Wong is a pastor in doubt

Young man who raped pastor’s daughter, leading to her death, ends up at his church. Will he avenge her or forgive him? Film ducks the issue.

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American cinema

Review | Karate Kid: Legends with Jackie Chan and Ben Wang disappoints

Jackie Chan shows he still has it, Ben Wang makes a charming lead, but despite Ralph Macchio’s return the Miyagi-LaRusso dynamic is missing.

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Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | We Girls: toe-curlingly moralistic Chinese crime drama of women ex-convicts

Zhao Liying and Lan Xiya lead a mostly female cast in director Feng Xiaogang’s story of two ex-cons trying to get their lives back on track.

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Zhao Liying (left) and Lan Xiya in a still from We Girls (category IIB; Mandarin), directed by Feng Xiaogang.
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Resurrection: Shu Qi, Jackson Yee in Bi Gan’s wildly ambitious drama

Shu Qi is the narrator and Jackson Yee the protagonist in celebration of cinema so impenetrable it will deter all but hardcore cinephiles.

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Jackson Yee in a still from Resurrection, directed by Bi Gan and co-starring Shu Qi. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Love on Trial: Koji Fukada explores the dark side of J-pop

Kyoko Saito plays a J-pop star sued for having a boyfriend in a film that questions how young women are treated by a male-dominated industry.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Unreachable: Japanese supernatural drama is too illogical to be good

Despite the efforts of its three stars Suzu Hirose, Hana Sugisaki and Kaya Kiyohara, this ghost drama is nothing more than exasperating.

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Asian cinema

Review | It Was Just an Accident: Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning dark comedy

Twice imprisoned director imagines a freer Iran, but authoritarianism is never far away in a story about morality, memory and abuse of power.

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A still from It Was Just an Accident, a dark comedy by Iranian director Jafar Panahi starring ahid Mobasseri, Ebrahim Azizi, Mariam Afshari and Hadis Pakbaten. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Exit 8, live-action adaptation of cult Japanese horror video game

Protagonist ‘The Lost Man’ must spot the differences as he walks repeatedly down an underground passage. Expect jump scares and apparitions.

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Yamato Kochi as “The Walking Man” in a still from Exit 8. Photo: Handout
American cinema

Review | Magellan, conqueror of Philippines, as we’ve never seen him before

Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz’s epic, visually stunning film presents its subject not as a daring explorer but as desperate and despotic.

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American cinema

Review | The Phoenician Scheme, Wes Anderson’s exquisite espionage caper

Director brings his style and a star-studded cast including Bill Murray as God to a mildly baffling spy tale and father-daughter story.

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European cinema

Review | Die, My Love: Jennifer Lawrence gives searing turn as unstable mother

Lynne Ramsay’s portrayal of a marriage coming apart pits Lawrence against Robert Pattinson. Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek play his parents.

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Jennifer Lawrence as Grace in a still from Die, My Love, directed by Lynne Ramsay. Robert Pattinson co-stars. Photo: Handout
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | In Renoir, Plan 75 director paints picture of amorality in Japan

Chie Hayakawa’s story of a girl who, watching her father die, seeks kindred spirits in art has a message about greed-is-good 1980s Japan.

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American cinema

Review | Eddington: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal in Ari Aster’s modern western

Joaquin Phoenix puts himself through the wringer as sheriff of a town gripped by Covid-19 and gradually enveloped by violence.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | A Pale View of Hills: Suzu Hirose, Fumi Nikaido in Kazuo Ishiguro adaptation

Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Kei Ishikawa’s film moves adroitly between the 1950s and 1980s as a writer probes her family history.

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Suzu Hirose as young bride Etsuko in a still from A Pale View of Hills, adapted from a 1982 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro and directed by Kei Ishikawa. Fumi Nikaido, Yoh Yoshida and Camilla Aiko co-star.
American cinema

Review | Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is fun but no masterpiece

Tom Cruise plays agent Ethan Hunt, out to save the world, this time from a rogue AI, in an instalment that neatly wraps up the franchise.

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Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in a still from Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Photo: Paramount Pictures and Skydance
American cinema

Review | Final Destination: Bloodlines – horror franchise back after 14-year break

MRI scanners and vending machines are used to kill characters in creative ways in long-awaited gorefest that follows the franchise formula.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon – sci-fi anime film is for diehard fans only

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon offers a big-screen compilation of the anime, but character development and emotional nuance are stripped away.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | A Gilded Game: Oho Ou, Andy Lau lead moralistic financial drama

Lau plays an equity analyst and Ou his protégé, a fresh-faced bank hire chasing a big deal, in Herman Yau’s financial drama.

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Andy Lau as equity analyst Todd Zhang in a still from A Gilded Game (category IIA; Mandarin), directed by Herman Yau Lai-to. Oho Ou co-stars.
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Holy Night: Demon Hunters – Ma Dong-seok can’t save tiring action horror

Ma Dong-seok fails to make a hit in this tale of a private detective who deals with cases of demonic possession by fighting spirits.

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Ma Dong-seok in a still from Holy Night: Demon Hunters.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | ‎The Dumpling Queen: founding of a Hong Kong food brand

Andrew Lau’s rags-to-riches biopic streamlines and rather sugarcoats the story of the Wanchai Ferry brand’s Zang Jianhe, played by Ma Li.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Vital Signs: Louis Koo, Neo Yau play ambulance paramedics in wistful drama

Polar opposites come together and have changes of heart in Cheuk Wan-chi’s film. Seeing Koo without a gun in his hand is refreshing.

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