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Tang Wei plays a student who is a member of a radical theatre troupe during the Sino-Japanese War. She and her cohorts determine to assassinate a prominent collaborator (Tony Leung). In order to get create the opportunity for the killing, our heroine must infiltrate Leung’s household. She is on the threshold of becoming his mistress when he leaves Hong Kong for Shanghai. Three years later, now backed by the Resistance, she makes a new attempt. But she hasn’t counted on the entanglements of passion in the affair she has embarked on.

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Retelling of classic tales has been a fodder for movie scripts for years. Take something that has worked for ages, spin it just so and you got a movie that might be gold. They have been doing this with Romeo & Juliet for years. The results can be great or sometimes they are one step of having the creator roll around in his grave with pain and anguish. Take Hamlet for example, the classic Shakespearian tale about a prince who takes revenge on his uncle Claudius who has murdered his father the King and taken the throne and the king’s wife too. It has treachery, corruption and a little good ole fashioned incest to wet the palette. Now take that piece of journalistic tragedy and set it after the fall of the Tang Dynasty in China. Insert popular Asian actors like Ziyi Zhang & Daniel Wu and you might just have something.

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On its surface, The Promise seems to have a good pedigree backing it up. You’ve got the guy who directed Farewell, My Concubine and the cinematographer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, combining forces for a Chinese film that is epic in scope, similar to the Zhang Yimou films Hero and House of Flying Daggers.

The problem with The Promise is that the story rambles a bit, and the characters are ones that you don’t care about. The stunts aren’t even breathtaking either, as the visual effects are apparently done with wires and green screens, and can be made out so obviously, they lack the magic and wonder of the Yimou films, or even other films like Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.

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Jet Li’s Fearless is reportedly the star’s final martial arts epic. Since we’re talking about the guy who did Once Upon a Time in China, Twin Warriors and Hero, that fact alone makes this is a significant film for martial arts fans.

Fearless tells the story of Huo Yuanjia, who in 1910 helped found the Jin Wu Sports Federation (Chin Woo Athletic Association), the first civil Kung Fu organization in China. Li plays Yuanjia, who is a Chinese folk hero. The film follows Yuanjia’s life from early childhood until his last days, showing his journey from a weak, little boy to a cocky, selfish bully, and finally to a respected martial arts master and Chinese patriot.

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Synopsis

Hot on the heels of the success of the Martin Scorsese film The Departed, I figured why not take a look back at the Hong Kong crime film that inspired it. Better yet, why not explore the trilogy that is the Infernal Affairs crime films, and how they hold up now. And I’ll try to minimize on the redundant stuff.

Written and directed by Siu Fai Mak, the first Infernal Affairs film is where The Departed finds its roots, as Yan (Tony Leung, Hero) is the Leona…

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Anthology films are a good training ground for young filmmakers to flex their muscles and really get creative. However, with Eros, the three filmmakers have already been around the block a time or two, and on the surface, that could be considered a good thing. But when you consider what Michaelangelo Antonioni, Steven Soderbergh, and Kar-Wai Wong, are already capable of, these shorts seem a bit of a letdown. The best segment is Soderbergh’s “Equilibrium,” with its symbolic stylistic effects and wry sense of hu…

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Synopsis

Lai Xi (Nakai Kiichi) must complete one last mission for the Emperor before he can returnto Japan: track down and execute mutinous Butcher Li (Jiang Wen), who refused to kill femaleand children prisoners, and is now an outlaw. Li and Lai Xi’s first encounter ends in a draw, andLai Xi agrees to wait for a rematch until Li has completed his current mission: escorting acaravan through bandit country. Lai Xi is soon caught up in the effort to protect the caravan, andthe battles…

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Synopsis

Shu Qi and Zhao Wei are sisters who, after the murder of their parents, have become a top-of-the-line assassination-for-hire team, combining martial arts and weapons expertise with acomputer program that allows them to tap into any closed-circuit camera anywhere on Earth.Karen Wok is the tough-as-nails detective who is on their trail. All three women run afoul of acorrupt businessman who wants them dead.

The Charlie’s Angels can only wish they were thi…

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Synopsis

Liu Cheng will do anything for his son, 13-year-old violinist Xiaochun. They leave theirprovincial town and travel to Beijing to seek more opportunities for Xiaochun. Liu Cheng packshis entire fortune into his hat, and cheerfully puts up with all kinds of humiliation for the good ofhis son. Xiaochun’s encounter with the city include a flighty, gold-digging young woman in thesame apartment block, and the very different characters of his teachers. At the centre of the fi…

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