Top five films to watch in Hong Kong this week (September 7-13), from American Made to Wolf Warrior 2

Click on film titles to read SCMP.com reviews

1. American Made

Forget The Mummy: the definitive Tom Cruise movie of the summer turns out to be far less fantastical than we expected. Channelling the real-life CIA pilot and drug smuggler Barry Seal, the ageless star shows that, for all his larger-than-life persona, he can play a sleazy opportunist with the best of them. (Opens on September 7)

2. Gukoroku – Traces of Sin

A journalist reopens an unsolved murder case and discovers a brutal world of elitism among Japan’s middle-classes in this grisly whodunit, adapted from Tokuro Nukui’s complex novel. Director Kei Ishikawa does his career no harm at all with this nihilistic and thoroughly mesmerising debut. (Opens on September 7)

3. The Sinking City: Capsule Odyssey

It is silly and vulgar, but this colourful adaptation of the titular novel by internet author xxharuki (Due West: Our Sex Journey) also rings true with its critique of Hong Kong’s social ills, ranging from its stilted property market to even gangsters’ uneasy careers in the oddly politicised environment. (Opens on September 7)

4. Midnight Runners

Having impressed with his low-budget feature debut Koala (2013), South Korean writer-director Kim Joo-hwan announces his arrival in the most impressive fashion with this hugely enjoyable commercial hit, a buddy cop thriller riding on the hilarious sparks between co-stars Park Seo-joon and Kang Ha-neul. (Now showing)

5. Wolf Warrior 2

After two decades of solid supporting roles and semi-popular hits, Wu Jing cements his superstar status with this utterly over-the-top action thriller, co-scripted, directed and starring the martial arts actor himself. The patriotic spectacle is now the highest-grossing Chinese film ever made. (Opens on September 7)

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