Outside of a jet ski chase and some very slight gunplay, there's nothing to suggest that this lighthearted caper comes from the usually dark mind of Ringo Lam, returning to comedy for the first time since the 1980s. I welcome versatility but when there's only the occasional glimpse of inspired comedy and action, one can almost imagine the mainstream minded Johnnie To (who produced) himself in the directing chair and the result would've been equally stale. What it really boils down to is a select bunch of good to so-so actors (Shu Qi, Simon Yam, Lam Suet, Hui Siu-Hung, Ruby Wong) and some not so talented (Andy On, Raymond Wong, Chapman To) enjoying the Malaysian sun and acting relatively silly. While semi-amusing at times and giving us some wild characteristics for Simon Yam's flamboyant villain, the proceedings are in the end rather unimpressive and disposable. Which is not a grade I'd want to lay on a Hong Kong film by Ringo Lam.

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Released the month before Stephen Chow's definite breakthrough vehicle All For The Winner, this Cosmopolitan production (headed by Shaw Brother's who now has the rights) is very much in the style that is now synonymous with Chow. Despite the inclusion of brutal murder, gunplay and ghosts, much time is devoted on behalf of director Lau Shut Yue (Ghost Fever) to let Chow thoroughly go his silly, outlandish comedic ways. The results are mostly hilarious (save for a few foul, low-brow gags) and really what's missing here, and what was solved in All For the Winner, is Ng Man Tat. Also with Bill Tung, Stanley Fung, Vivian Chan, Sunny Fang and Amy Yip.

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Eric Tsang's first ventures into directing (after having been employed on various behind the scenes gigs in the capacity of stuntman and screenwriter) to this day keep and should be receiving praise. Both The Challenger and The Loot were independent productions but the latter can proudly stand beside any of the studio greats and not be ashamed. Much having to do with Chan Siu Leung's excellent martial arts choreography that also has the advantage of key players having been directed by the great Lau Kar Leung at one point.

Tsang also keeps a rather involved plot afloat quite well and while David Chiang is playing it broad mostly, when he eventually teams up fully with Norman Tsui, the movie gets a lot of momentum and even strays away from the typical comedy of the period to deliver actual wit. Best sequence being the obligatory expository one where the duo struggles to keep a man alive in order for the plot to be AAAALMOST fully exposed. Also starring Phillip Ko, Lily Li and Kwan Yung Moon.

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Andy Chin's (Call Girl 92, Love Among The Triad) last movie to date, seemingly shot with a mixed cast in Chinese locations without the use of synch sound. A rare choice considering the filmmaker.

The age of old story of the spoilt, rich boy whose gullibility is exploited and he's reduced to beggar status, Chin starts off with fairly picture-esque visuals but also with an awfully talky, boring narrative. It's only when he thrusts leading man Tse Kwan.Ho (The Mad Phoenix) into the lows he goes through, even experiencing a re-birth first hand in a lot of ways, the film becomes semi-passable. Tony Leung Siu-Hung's action is even good for the brief moments it lasts, times where lead Tse shows the best of his commanding presence. At times off-beat but not overly broad, The Lord of Hangzhou does represent Andy Chin himself having lost something but there's no doubt, his body of work is highly respectable. Also with Waise Lee and Chan Kwok-Bong.

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Despite the setting of a male youth prison, Samson Chiu's Lost Boys In Wonderland is at core dead on similar to the likes of Girls In The Hood (especially so since they came out around the same time) but Chiu shows why an actual good filmmaker will nail storybeats much better. Mixing the light with the dark since there exists an extremely thin line for it in regards to his characters, the youths go about their lives flashing the disrespect towards society and family to instead put all their being into loyalty towards their scoundrel brothers. Lam Ming-Lun plays Chi who willingly takes a prison sentence just to be around his big brother but as he's no longer at the same prison, Chi must face the world alone. Redefine his thoughts on society status. Symbolism is strong and valid in Chiu's visuals as they include both multiple shots of heaven and its birds but registers most favorably when featuring a story connected to the comic book character of McDull (Chiu recently directed the 3rd of the feature length adaptations of the little pig's exploits). You pay a debt for clearly going against proper values, take some beating but hopefully come out sunny side up. Chiu is right in underplaying the melodrama of the situation, the darkness and in the end, his varied answers to what fate holds for the characters. To provide hope and darkness is not a bad way to go cinematically. The young cast do fine work, especially otherwise triad character actor Samuel Leung.

James Ha is credited with the story as well as being action director and it doesn't seem wrong to think this is a personal story of his.

He dabbled in romance, martial arts with a lean towards sadism but in Lost Souls, director Mou Tun-Fei displayed what has been evident in his work after leaving Shaw Brothers: a socially conscious mind willing to showcase the back alleys of human evil, times ten! The narrative here surrounding illegal immigrants from China being tortured and abused by smugglers makes a point. Mou's downfall is that he's already clearly made a point early on and the remainder of the film just goes into extreme overdrive trying to hammer home the message via exploitation elements. Not that he's ever been afraid of doing so or is the first director on the block with these sensibilities but the disgust that is generated doesn't lead into favorable impressions about the filmmaking. This verdict is something I've gathered from Mou's subsequent known output Men Behind The Sun and Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre so I can honestly say it's a shame a conscious mind squanders his opportunities to give the world something to REALLY think about. Chan Shen is one of the only recognizable faces in a lead role.

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While it's easy to proclaim there's something not quite satisfactory about Cheung Chi-Sing's (I Wanna Be Your Man!) comedy-drama, the story of impotent cab driver Man Cheung's (usually annoying Dayo Wong) adventures within a triangle of lust/love and art goes quite the creative bit in terms of portraying facets of sex. After being part of a Farrelly Brother's movie during the first few reels, Man Cheung's vacation to Lamma Island means further acquaintances with his trusted customer Man (Liz Kong), lesbian bar owner Billie (Ada Choi) and just plain out there husband of Man's, Tung (Cheung Tat-Ming). Acting as a righteous, nice guy, the triangle he finds himself in is encouraged to be by wacky Tung who sees it as his dream to have a free for all lust and love relationship even though Billie was Man's lover at one time. Enter an island cop (Pauline Suen) on the busy stage, who sets out to cure good guy Man Cheung...

Major tangents of life contemplating, musings on sex and how longing will disrupt a desired structure to love, it's sex vs. heart and soul in quite the bizarre package as presented by Cheung Chi-Ming. He goes deep in his exploration no doubt but these characters aren't particularly mapped out to cohere all the way through. Especially Cheung Tat-Ming's Tung who is a peculiar number that is hard to pin down. It doesn't seem particularly illogical to cast comedy actor Cheung Tat-Ming then and Dayo Wong handles himself adequately too. Ada Choi dominates the show though, oozing sex, desire and remains the sole, clear cut character material director Cheung squeezes out of Love & Sex Among The Ruins. Vincent Kok and Lee Lik-Chi appear in cameo roles.

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Triad boss Siu (Simon Yam) gets out of prison only to find out that his wealth and power has been diminished. While a group of loyal followers is still around, Siu in the end decides to start a from scratch and does so by helping and eventually marrying the debt ridden Ching (Cecilia Yip). Escaping the triad world where he's left permanent scars proves to be difficult though...

Ivan Lai and Lai Gai Keung takes on the redemption theme, one certainly worth examining but in the end only goes slightly humane and affecting places. Initial fresh chemistry between the stars help keep the drama buoyant but Love, Guns & Glass more or less becomes traditional genre fodder for the majority of the time. The Lai's take their story to such over the top levels that the romance angle actually turns awfully bizarre at points. Basically, the filmmakers know how to pound but not how to stroke gently and emotions therefore runs so high that it kills off any such investment from the viewer.

What Love Guns & Glass therefore is, is watchable, violent action cinema and it for sure delivers the goods. The action, directed by Phillip Kwok, is very intense and well-staged with the gore landing on quite extreme levels. Elements of sadism also rears its head, which is no surprise considering Ivan Lai was coming off Category III nastiness such as Daughter Of Darkness. Roy Cheung, Farini Cheung, Chin Ho (sporting quite bad prosthetic scar makeup) and Mark Houghton also appear.

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Things doesn't bode well when the main credits of Love In Sampan are scored to a low-grade Love Boat-esque-theme and not so surprisingly, things quickly derail from here in this Cat III rated erotic drama.

The problem is that director On has set out to do drama and while the themes of love and the unfair despair that comes with it is well-meaning on paper, On isn't armed with paper, budget or acting, resulting in an effort that reeks. Love In Sampan did of course come out during the heyday of Cat III exploitation filmmaking and many efforts certainly were close to the low quality of this one. Most of the time, others resorted to being uniquely Hong Kong though, which did at least produce some form of charm and fun. Love In Sampan intended to be respectable however. A respectable choice, not a respectable final result.

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