Her Name Is Cat represents some sort of attempt by producer Wong Jing and director Clarence Fok to once again bring to life all the hoo-haa surrounding their cult Cat III effort Naked Killer. Utilizing once again poster art with an alluring leading lady (Almen Wong) in an outfit that never appears in the film and assassin plots with this time only slight lesbian undertones results in something not so difficult to achieve; a better film than Naked Killer.

Her Name is Cat is still terribly hollow and ordinary. Wong Jing can at the best of times inject something akin to fresh coming from him (Colour Of The Truth) but his script here is just a mish-mash of worn clichés. The assassin with a conscience, the cop losing his family because of ruthless dedication to work, themes of redemption, loneliness and then to top it all off, an action finale set in a church. Simply put, Clarence Fok and Wong Jing are not the people who can rise above these clichés and stand out in a crowd. Fok's overbearing style and the overall cinematography quickly becomes bothersome and while effort exist to make a thoroughly serious film, scenes trying to come off as poignant ends up as unintentionally funny instead. Fok can make his style work but it's rare (see Remains Of A Woman). The story holds potential no doubt but you'd better employ better makers and performers to realize that. Almen Wong admittedly is fairly effective as the emotionally cold but lonely assassin but Michael Wong only goes through his motions. Meaning half his dialogue in English and acting being generally wooden. At least he has the best line of the film, which turns out to be incredibly true:

"It'll be like a second class movie for god's sake!"

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

Time travel adventure with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Ching dynasty womanizer Wai Siu-Bo (the character he played on TV and Stephen Chow did as well in the Royal Tramp movies) who's given the mission to travel 300 years ahead in time to find a virgin for the ailing emperor (Ken Tong). He meets a cop played by Dicky Cheung and already there the movie blows...

It's funny though because if you make a list of all craziness within Hero - Beyond The Boundary Of Time (Dicky Cheung with a massive hard on being one item from that list), it looks like it's a gem of "only in Hong Kong" proportions but director Blackie Ko manages to generate the side effect of annoyance instead. The odd bit from Tony Leung Chiu-Wai is amusing and the high flying action towards the end sees us experiencing the only energy the film has. Other than that, it's a long 97 minutes. Also with Ng Suet-Man and Veronica Yip.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com

Another nail in the coffin for Chin Siu-Ho who didn't necessarily make bad choices but despite such fare as Fist Of Legend and The Tai Chi Master, he never really made it into the A-list. Shame and Hero Dream even sees him doing softcore porn!

Also featuring his brother Chin Kar-Lok (who does get worthwhile acting gigs on occasion still), this gangster actioner mostly set in Thailand is clearly a quickie with no real intention, commitment, knowledge or talent to make it work. Instead, director Lau Keung-Fu throws in as many audience pleasing moments as he can, hoping it'll pan out and I guess the vcd sold its share of units as it features a plethora of women on the cover (plus a few transsexuals...don't ask). The Chin's are some of the main reasons why the film mostly sinks as they continuously provide non-existant acting or overacting. The filmmakers also throw in a few sex scenes just because they can while the action is not only laughably bad but so are the Thai extras/stuntmen, leading to a finale that simply reeks. Yet with Hero Dream, you should know what to expect and there is some fair camp value and a bizarre nature to the film that makes it fun. Obviously a sweet deal with Fuji was struck as they are featured prominently in a way not akin to subtle and the inclusion of full frontal nudity of the Thai transsexuals is bound to raise a few eyebrows. Kind of sad and fun at the same time, Hero Dream is there for the taking but don't mistake it for anything but low grade thrash. Also starring Carrie Ng, Sophia Crawford and Michiko Nishiwaki.

Watch out for definitely unlicensed music from Miami Vice that pops up now and again throughout.

Buy the VCD at:
Yesasia.com

Tu Tashan (Chan Sing) defeats Hsiao Hu's (Ting Wa-Chung) father and subsequently the father commits suicide. Wanting revenge but being offered training by Tu Tashan, Hsiao Hu is allowed to attempt revenge anytime. All while the two are on a mission to defeat traitors that are now siding with the Manchu's...

William Cheung (Calamity Of Snakes) presents expected morals surrounding revenge but in quite solid fashion. Solid chemistry between his old and young lead coupled with quality action choreography throughout makes Heroes From Shaolin very serious but never to an unbearable, arty degree. The film knows it's basic and expectedly has its highlight moments via Yuen Biao's and Corey Yuen's work as action directors. Especially their own scenes featuring weapons are a fluid treat, beating anything co-stars Lo Lieh and Hwang Jang-Lee take part in.

Known internationally as Shaolin Challenges Ninja, this one of many fine Lau Kar Leung efforts comes out way ahead of the pack with its nigh on perfect blend of martial arts action and valid thematic excursions.

Gordon Lau plays Ho To, a kung fu master who chooses a Japanese woman (Yuko Mizuno) as his wife. A feud is soon ablaze between the couple as they can't come to terms and agreement on the philosophies of their individual martial arts. She returns to Japan and after Ho To sends a challenge letter to her, the best of the best of Japanese masters turn up to challenge him. One by one they go at it...

Set amongst the upper classes of Chinese society in the late Ching dynasty, Lau Kar Leung weaves a pretty decent narrative from I Kuang's script that is far from one big excuse to feature martial arts action. Hell, he even takes his time to set the stage for the differences of the characters before unleashing his choreography. Heroes Of The East, in many other filmmakers hands, would've simply derailed and turned into a bloody struggle between the Chinese and the Japanese. Lau is not interested in any revenge motifs but instead puts forth valid arguments from both sides, with the final message being that we have to examine the values of each others cultures instead of naively rejecting them. In between this fairly serious narrative, doses of off-beat humour turns up, most notably through Lau Kar Leung's wonderful cameo as Beggar So, the role Simon Yuen (who also appears) would become the symbol for the very same year in Snake In The Eagle's Shadow.

Eventually, Lau lets it rip with his action choreography and it's a furious multi fighting showcase of Chinese and Japanese weaponry that ranks as some of Lau's best work in the 70s. At the same time, a notion is retained concerning cultures in need of enlightening each other and it's no surprise that Heroes Of The East is almost completely bloodless therefore. It's a rare treat when audiences get to ponder in martial arts cinema but Lau Kar Leung proved on several occasions that the merging worked. Gordon Lau and Yasuaki Kurata shine and the supporting cast includes Cheng Hong Yip, Cheng Miu, Norman Chu and Lee Hoi San.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

If you haven't seen this story before, then you haven't seen much "heroic bloodshed" movies. With a little bit of A Better Tomorrow and Just Heroes mixed in, only with less refined storytelling skills at the helm, Hero Of Tomorrow has little to offer if it wasn't for the inclusion of, however bad it is to express it the way I'm going to, exciting, gory and intense violence. Poon Man-Kit also caps his generic story off with a fine gunplay finale in the middle of the Hong Kong streets, having made sure that there is no tomorrow for any characters so blood flows freely. Fans should dig that. Starring Miu Kiu Wai, Max Mox, William Ho (in a typical broad bad guy turn for the actor), Cheung Wing Jing, Ku Feng, Joan Tong and Gam Siu Mooi. Tommy Wong, Phillip Kwok, Blackie Ko, James Tien, Phillip Chan and Lam Chung logs cameos.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

Taiwanese madness is the order of the day and a number of incredibly odd tangents starts early as director Chiu Chung-Hing clearly isn't interested in conveying the plot. Triad boss behaviour of the bizarre kind towards dogs and then we're off in ninja ghoul territory but wait, here's where the plot actually kicks in! Concerning gangsters and a family of movie special effects makers, Chiu unleashes all manners of creativity on screen because this family are masters at what they do, plus good fighters and acrobats too as it turns out. The energy isn't quite on par with Jackie Chan's work but it's almost equally infectious. As a movie, A Heroic Fight doesn't matter but it sets itself up as nonsense and is fun to follow because of it. Starring Lin Hsiao-Lan, Dick Wei and Yuen Cheung-Yan.