REVIEW: 毒戰 [Du zhan] [Drug War] [2013]

“Bad for the brain. Hahaha.” The first action film prolific Hong Kong director Johnnie To shot exclusively in Mainland China shows that locale has little to do with his ability to achieve the level of entertainment international audiences expect. 毒戰 [Du zhan] [Drug War] sticks with the gangster genre he’s most associated with by pitting an undercover narcotics police force against drug kingpin Uncle Bill (Zhenqi Li). Involved in a multi-faceted sting operation, cops from Jinhai, Yuejiang, and Erzhou join together after syndicate general Timmy Choi (Louis Koo) is captured…

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REVIEW: 三槍拍案驚奇 [A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop] [2010]

“You are such a wimp, the biggest I’ve ever seen” A prolific director in China, Yimou Zhang found an audience in America with the wonderful Hero and his follow-up House of Flying Daggers. Curse of the Golden Flower came next with its stunning visuals but lackluster storyline that left me cold and uninterested, thinking perhaps his style had gotten the best of him on the almost film per year pace he had begun. But then he decided to do something completely out of left field, pushing the serious, feudal artistry…

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REVIEW: Монгол [Mongol] [2008]

“Never betray your Khan” Genghis Khan, sympathetic king of the people? If Sergei Bodrov is to be believed: yes. His tale of Khan’s ascent to power from childhood, Монгол [Mongol], tells of how he kept his ideals and the laws of Mongolia intact to unite a country from greed. After a battle, he takes an even share as those fighting under him; he respects his men and their families above survival. “Fight your enemy until the end” becomes one of his rules, and he himself lives by it. Sure, as…

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