Another made-for-TV Tsai film. Without Tsai's usual focus on style and minimalism, his films are little more than social criticism. Fine if that's your thing, but this rather bleak and unattractive peak into the lives of poor immigrant construction workers didn't really do it for me. I prefer his more cinematic work.
Early Wilson Yip film that fails in the same way most Hong Kong horror/comedies do. The comedy is simplistic and dull, while the horror is cheap and unconvincing. For some reason these films did well enough on the local market, but it's not much of an export product. At least Yip improved tremendously over time.
Pretty decent war flick, though the introduction is better than the payoff. It's not a very original film and it does drag in places, but the 12 are a rather fun bunch and even though it's war-themed, the film itself is quite light-hearted. Better than I expected, but could've been a fair bit shorter without losing much of its appeal.
A weird and quirky adaptation of Shakespeare's play that is at times fun and original, but is mostly just cheap and boring. The casting is a little off, the comedy only works during the final act and the cheap stage-like setting is no doubt deliberate, but doesn't work very well. It's a complete mess with some fun moments.
Patrick Tam's first film is a nice showcase of his talents. It's a pretty basic martial arts film, but executed with considerable attention to detail. What it gains in proper cinematography and acting though, it loses in pure adrenaline. The drama in between can get pretty cheesy, but apart from that this is a solid effort.
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