KENNETH'S REVIEW: The busy adventures of ex-triad Wai includes copious amounts of sex, an almost creative fight with his jojo, a gig at an antique company with shady behaviour behind the scenes, karaoke bar duty, appearing in Category III films and one not so carefully injected plot point about him needing to revenge his parents (especially heightened when he finds evidence of who's responsible, carefully organized in a folder). Furthermore there's Hong Kong/Mainland cops, dopey assassins of sorts and indeed, the plate seems rather full. But going about it in light fashion translates more into casual behaviour and Wai's Romance doesn't become as fun as its opportunities are. In quite the big role reversal, Charlie Cho is timed and afraid of the other sex but rest assured, he gets in on the action eventually. Ku Feng and William Ho also appear.

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Investment manager Fion (Francoise Yip - Rumble In The Bronx) is scammed into putting 100 million USD into an acquisition deal by business man Donson Woo. When trying to look him up again, she finds out Donson Woo is some other person entirely (played by ass kicking Michael Chow). The two join together to untangle this web of deception, ending up being wanted criminals and lovers in the process.

Co-directed by Billy Tang (Run And Kill, Sharp Guns), little of his visual strength or cinematic strength for that matter is evident in Web Of Deception. The movie may go to exotic locations but it's still an awfully cheap looking movie further enhanced by the fact that the plot carries such traits as well. The twists along the way causes some slight interest to manifest itself while Tang's Category III background remains evident in one sex scene as well as in the casting of Diana Pang (nothing that fits the actual story but it sure as hell is audience pleasing). But in the end, there's nothing to care for really.

May Yuk Sing's action directing has some neat ideas but is hindered by the low-budget clearly. Plus the casted henchmen add an unwelcome hokey flavour that stops any desires of Ma's to create hard boiled action.

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We've seen this one before, when it was both called Top Gun, Proud And Confident and to a much lesser extent No, Sir. Therefore Blacky Ko has not so much made a movie but extracted a template and dressed the human pieces of it with different faces. On the army training grounds in Taiwan there are therefore comrade, performance rivalry, strict training in order to bond and improve these soldiers as well as emotional twists where sickness may turn proceedings on its head. Plus you have the romance subplot straight out of Top Gun re-molded a bit and put into this movie but never followed through on so it's safe to say director Ko merely needed some filler. A variation on Europe's "The Final Countdown" is heard before the boys enter their examination mission but then real life circumstances turn into a real, albeit small war. Who saw that one coming? A lot of us and aside from an assured act from Miu Kiu-Wai as the typical drill sergeant with a heart, none of the performers such as Max Mok, Wilson Lam or Kenny Ho inhabit anything else but a shell that holds zero character. Compared to dreck like No, Sir however, Blacky Ko knows how to spice up the training sequences more and some of the more epic shots register favourably.

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Wong Fung assembled the team from Hap Ki Do (Angela Mao, Carter Wong, Sammo Hung & Wang In-Sik) for another similar showdown with the Koreans, Chinese vs. the ruling Japanese forces. While Hap Ki Do was run of the mill, it possessed a great deal of momentum and energy while When Taekwondo Strikes (aka Sting of The Dragon Masters) can't muster up any sparks. Action director Sammo along with Chan Chuen creates notable fast and fierce fighting action though so Angela Mao fans will get something out of all this rather dull stuff (I would like to judge the film on its real terms whenever a Mandarin language widescreen print is made available by Golden Harvest however).

Of note is the casting of Golden Harvest executive producer Andre Morgan in a substantial role as well as the "Father of American Tae Kwon Do", Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee. You can also see Sammo and Chin Yuet Sang as part of the villainous Japanese gang.

Rarely involving to any extent (unless you're knowledgeable about the period covered?), Eddie Fong's drama about poet Yu Tat Fu (played as an adult by Chow Yun-Fat and in his teens by Terence Fok) struggling to find his Chinese identity among Japanese rulers and as a lover was apparently an unfinished Shaw Brother's production later sold to Golden Harvest. Re-edited without director Fong's consent and bumping the minor appearance of Chow's up to leading man status for marketing reasons, the film flopped despite. It's hard to imagine Fong's vision being that great to begin with and the film has little of the class and texture his prior An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty had. Also known as Cherry Blossoms.

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Conjures up intentions and goals but strikes out quite distinctly, Andy Chin's twentysomething drama about friends Gigi (Ellen Chan), Bobo (Ivy Leung) and Jane (Rachel Lee) contains the professional touch via the use of synch sound but little overall that resonates. Basically a simple tale of girls (and supporting character gallery containing men) in need to grow up, embark on career attempts as secretary or actresses but they are girls (and men) that are stuck in development. So they favour their loose side, playing and immoral acts such as spying on their neigbours (object of desire being the character of Mike, played by Ekin Cheng). Moral of the story is that life hurts, especially when you reap the consequences of your actions and then the movie stops for an end credits dance number! No, it's not director Chin using an open end for almost all characters, disguised as a brave filmmaking choice. Why Wild Girls simply seems to run out of film or competence (or it's in fact cut on Ocean Shores dvd). On the positive side of things, Rachel Lee is wonderful, in both bubbly mode and during the emotional detours her character takes. Chan Kwok-Bong, Kenneth Chan, Fan Yik-Man, Jamie Luk and Kingdom Yuen also appear.