EvilPhoEniX

The Koreans serve up a tense thriller set in a morgue that avoids violence but is pleasantly mysterious, enigmatic and suspenseful. A dead woman's body disappears from a morgue and a suspicious husband claims his wife is still alive. Newcomer Lee Chang-he does a great job with the characters, pleasantly shocking the viewer with a twist within a twist at the end that raises the level of the film a notch higher. Koreans are good at this sort of thing. 75%

Wery untapped potential. Entrusting the biggest martial arts stars of our time to an ordinary routine artist was a bad move. This should have been made by someone of Asian descent, no doubt. That the story is ordinary is to be expected, but that it would be so uninteresting and unentertaining, and also, everyone speaks English, which tore my ears off and only adds to the already bad acting. Another big problem is that everyone is running around with guns – they shouldn't have used anything other than hands, feet and knives. There aren’t many fights and, apart from the finale, the rest are hardly worth mentioning and no one will be coming back to them. The most interesting fight is probably the one between Tony Jaa and Scott Adkins; it has some challenging choreography, but it barely lasted two minutes, which isn’t enough even the fastest orgasm. It's good enough for a better average, but I was expecting either funnier or at least more intense stuff. Looks like I'll have to wait for the next Tjahjanto, who was the only one who understood that without violence, ordinary fights don't faze anyone anymore. 60%.

Well, this was really bad, in fact I can't remember the last time I saw such a bad film from Korea. Kim Byeong-woo is quite a rookie director and I trusted him because the trailer was intriguing promised some gritty military action, but that's not what we get here. There is quite a lot of action, but thanks to the awful cinematography you don’t get to enjoy anything – it felt like a 90s video game and not even the great Ha Jeong-woo can save it. I was not entertained and was irritated most of the time. 40%.

Hong Kong's take on the German film Suck Me Shakespeer is very entertaining, though fans of Donnie Yen may be disappointed. Donnie plays exactly the dream teacher that every student would like to have and he does a great job with his attitude and charisma. I was a little disappointed by the digression in the second half, which focuses more on individual student relationships than the school itself. There’s some action and is particularly interesting, especially the locker room fight with the MMA fighters and the finals at the school, but the action isn't the point here it's more of a dramedy, but a very entertaining one. Maybe it’s a shame to use Donnie for projects like this, but there are worse things. 65%

Jordan Peele is undoubtedly a huge talent, which he has shown not only in his comedy sketches, but also with his hit Get Out, and high hopes were pinned on Us, based on the amazing trailer and positive reactions from critics. In the end feelings are slightly mixed, the film will definitely once again divide audiences into two camps, similar to Mother or Hereditary. Mainstream viewers and teens can stay home, this is a much more challenging spectacle than it first appears and those expecting a classic home invasion, slasher or horror will be sorely disappointed. The biggest trump cards are definitely the actors, with Lupita Nyong'o giving an extraordinary double performance, the superb craftsmanship, the details, the camera shots, the visuals and the intense music (“I Got 5 on It” is played three times and is quite goosebump-inducing during the final scene), and the very disarming and effective twists and turns, which you may not understand right away, but the creativity cannot be denied. Us also works in terms of horror. The home invasion is filmed in a decently atmospheric manner and the slasher rampage is quite brutal, though unfortunately, there is no explicit gore. In places the film is underpinned by comedy interludes, which work for the most part. It's slightly disappointing that the film isn't downright creepy and there's a distinct lack of a memorable scene to talk about in the future. Many may also be bothered by the fact that some issues aren't put squarely on the table, and whether the whole thing even makes sense is also debatable. I will definitely give this a re-watch and even though I was expecting grittier and more dense stuff, I still have to admit that there hasn't been a horror film this original and creative in years. 80%.

Miguel Angel Vivas, the Spanish talent behind the hit Kidnapped and the solid horror film Extinction,now comes with a revenge drama laced thriller and it's his best film to date. The story focuses on a doctor whose son is brought to hospital brutally beaten and nearly dead. Since the police don’t care, he decides to find the culprits himself. The whole film is driven by Jose Coronado's performance and although it is slower paced, it draws the viewer's attention from the start and serves up a very authentic and stiffing atmosphere with an unexpectedly sharp finale (yes there is a rape), and a shocking twist at the end. The highlight are also the scene in the toilet and the beating of the son, which will make you physically uncomfortable. The Spaniards are in good form again. 80%.

A slow and not very interesting for me crime-thriller from Taiwan. The plot didn't impress me, there is no action at all and the only thing that can be praised is the ending, which is quite surprising, but doesn't really save the film in my eyes. I didn't enjoy it very much. Weaker than average. 50%

Song Kang-ho was the Korean Scarface, but it took a slightly more skilled director with a more interesting narrative style and sense of action. It's quite fun to watch, the transformation into a mob boss is delivered in an entertaining way, but for me Song Kang-ho is more of a comedian than a guy to respect (I can think of a dozen other Korean actors who would have been more suitable for the lead role). Of the action, it's the final shootout that sticks out in my mind, It’s almost identical to Scarface. It succeeded, but the ambition should have been higher. 65%.

As a spin-off to Ip-Man, it's okay, but it falls short of the trilogy starrging Donnie Yen, though Max Zhang is a worthy stand-in. Story-wise, it's a classic Hong Kong cliché, but thanks to the solid cast and the decent action, it doesn't downright matter. Max Zhang has been a favourite of mine since Kill Zone 2 and has only scored points since then. It was also a pleasure to see Michelle Yeoh after a while, Tony Jaa is here more for promotion but has a solid fight, I also enjoyed Yu Xing who also doesn't get lost in the fights, and the surprise is Dave Bautista, who is a terrible actor, but the final fight is unexpectedly more than solid. Occasionally the obvious wires hurt, but it's been a while since a proper martial art film has come out, so I'm happy. 75%

Surprise of the year? At first glance, Fighting with my Family seemed like an indie festival film that no one will remember after a week, but the unexpectedly very positive reviews and its release in cinemas did the film a lot of good and I left the cinema very satisfied. Florence Pugh, who kick-started her career last year with Outlaw King, is absolutely excellent, her career is going to take off rapidly with the upcoming Midsommar and Little Women. The film deals with the rather novel subject of wrestling and with a socially disadvantaged family who have and can do nothing but wrestle. Everything changes when the son and daughter are invited to a WWE casting. The first act manages dry British black humour with very solid lines. After that the film becomes more of a sports drama, yet very powerful, moving and entertaining. Vince Vaughn is rightly stern as the trainer, and I must say that his progression from an average comedian to a very solid actor was very unexpected, but he already played the captain perfectly in Hacksaw Ridge, his transformation was most striking in Brawl in Cell Block 99, and we'll see what he does in Dragged Across Concrete. The Rock in a smaller role is a delight and there are brief glimpses of wrestling legends. I shed a tear during the finale, so satisfaction. "Dick me dead, and bury me pregnant." 80%