Based on the true story of the Kekexili Mountain Patrol, a group of volunteers trying to stop poachers from killing off the Tibetan antelope and selling its treasured wool. Led by former military officer RiTai (Duo Bujie), they take with them a Beijing journalist (Zheng Lei) who has been sent to Kekexili (a region of China bordering on Tibet) to find out more about the murder of one of the men and about the patrol. Along the journey he discovers a different kind of battlefield, riddled with a different kind of humanity out to fight the greed...

Written and directed by Lu Chuan who follows up his frantic debut The Missing Gun in a completely different style and within its harsh shooting locale, Kekexili: Mountain Patrol is a grand, angry, disturbing yet calm experience. Showcasing one of many world problems now thankfully solved, it's still a harrowing portrait of emotionless greed and how the humane needs to fight the inhumane with questionable tools. Taking details from the actual article that arose great attention in China upon publishing in 1996, Lu Chuan is obviously preaching that there may very well have to exist hypocrisy in a good cause, as long as it's solved. With his incredibly immersing subtle outbursts, be it in violence or emotionally, it's a low-key, uplifting, dark piece that is easy to grasp, easy to sympathize with and easy to praise. Also a movie up for debate, Lu has not chosen a middle ground for his opinions, which could serve as a potential warning. Nonetheless, how ever much hardships the enemies in the film MAY have endured before going on a financially winning path, it still doesn't make the extermination of antelopes right. It seems to go far beyond a need and well into evil.

The unknown actors do a marvelous job commanding their particular part of the frame, especially Duo Bujie and the eerie old man played by Ma Zhanlin. A surprise winner at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards (Mainland Chinese films rarely gets the top honors), the film was handed the Best Picture and Best Cinematography statuettes.

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IFD tries to prove that ninjas alone don't make or break their cut and splice fun. Kickboxer From Hell definitely makes sure it breaks mostly, but stripping apart and re-tooling the original Japanese (by the looks of it) horror flick sees a worthlessness transforming into cheap, camp worthlessness instead. Strangely enough, the original film still appear just as dull as it actually looks, with a dead spirit vengeance plot lingering over it and IFD's nuns going undercover to stop Satan-injected storyline doesn't exactly interact smoothly. You do wonder if IFD were somewhat geniuses though, looking at the newly shot footage with Mark Houghton, because this is simply beyond bad, ranging from directing to performing (the profanity bombs fly, in the most ill-performed way). It's also the sole nonsense Kickboxer From Hell can offer up and in reality isn't far off the mark IFD usually hit, with or without ninjas.

Based on the same true life kidnapping case that Crime Story portrayed, this Wong Jing scripted production appeared in theatres merely a month after, and starred Kent Cheng once more in a variation of his nominated role in the mentioned Kirk Wong film. This time the filmmakers sets up the kidnap victim Wong Chak Fei (Paul Chun) as a much more sinister man who drives cop Ching (Cheng) to the edge of crime. The film might've served as an interesting comparison piece and social commentary, especially since the final events seem to correspond slightly more to the sad outcome of the real crime (unless the Chinese only text coda says something different) but director Ko Sin Ming can't do anything but to put the audience to sleep. When the only memorable moments are Wong Jing's sophomoric humour sections (the scenes that surely elevated the rating to a Cat III), any movie should feel doomed. A solid cast, that also includes Francis Ng and Cheng Pei Pei, also can't put forth anything but throwaway acting.

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For half of its duration, this Taiwanese kidnapping drama is awfully talky and mundane, only to better itself in the second half as the questions of mending rips in relationships in the face of tragedy inevitably enters. The best strengths shown by director Ke Yi Zheng is in the portrayal of the kidnapped kids and how they maintain and heightens their united power against opposing forces, leading to fair tension but also a sweet and telling ending for a movie that takes quite a while to warm up. Sylvia Chang and Eddie Chan stars.

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Concerning a killer of killers (Wong Hei - The Accident) who slowly begins to break his habits of drinking things other than hot chocolate and displaying empathy for other human beings, such silly notions threatens to be shattered by another assassin (Yu Rong-Guang)...

I'm sure Jeffrey Chiang (The Dream Killer) had good intentions when echoing Wong Kar-Wai's stylistic sensibilities (Blur-O-Vision being the one utilized here) and plot points from Fallen Angels and Chungking Express. Here's his problem though, it's a xerox of someone else's voice, not Chiang's own and he even manages to make his art completely muddled and lacking of interest while he's at it. Voiceover musings on the art, the habits and the interaction with people doesn't aid the otherwise solid stylist Chiang. Which is all a shame because he's loaded up the flick with gunpower that isn't out of place But that's it for The Killer Has No Return, an effort that thought it could get away with an homage such as this. Carol Lee and Ng Man-Tat also appear.

Fresh off the chaos that was Swordsman, Raymond Lee helmed this drama with gangster genre aspects up for cliché target practice but he showcases a will to make something that will peek out just a little bit more distinctively than the rest of the output at the time. While Ti Lung's character journey is about leaving the gang life in order to settle down (yea...easy as pie as always), Lee knows that if you put enough sincerity and get actors of dignity and charisma, you can achieve better things than expected of the surroundings. That happens with Ti Lung's strong leading act, embodying a character who realizes he has failed but also that success was never going to be an option in life, knowing what he knows now. Lo Lieh is equally good in a seemingly ordinary supporting act but Lo brings subtlety along the way that speaks well to the veteran nature of the loyal character. It's not the greatest drama tools employed here (some over the top melodramatics comes with it) but it's effective in a modest way. Watchability level also goes up whenever action director Tony Leung steps in, in particular an intense shootout at a funeral parlor has a nice gimmick not seen in too many other films. Also with Olivia Cheng, Fennie Yuen, Mark Cheng, Roy Cheung and Lam Chung.

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HK Flix.com