Top five films to watch in Hong Kong this week (August 23-29), from Mirai to Crazy Rich Asians
Much of the attention will be on Crazy Rich Asians this week but also worth a look are an enchanting Japanese animation, a brutal action thriller starring Mark Wahlberg, a female buddy action comedy and Donnie Yen’s pet project
Click on the film titles to read SCMP.com reviews.
1. Mirai
A family’s history is explored in fantastical terms in this enchanting animation by Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda. Working with a much more streamlined narrative than he did in action epics Summer Wars and The Boy and the Beast, Hosoda’s film leaps through time and space to muse on the essence of family love. (Opens on August 23)
2. Mile 22
The fourth collaboration between director Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg in five years (after Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon and Patriots Day), this brutal action thriller, about a deadly CIA mission to transport an asset to safety, will prove hugely satisfying for fans of bone-crunching violence – and few others. (Opens on August 23)
Even as the first major studio film in 25 years to feature an Asian cast, this glitzy, hyperactive adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s bestseller is never going to solve all of Hollywood’s representation issues. What it does deliver, however, is a thoroughly entertaining romcom blessed with scene-stealing supporting turns. (Opens on August 23)
A buddy action comedy directed by a woman (Susanna Fogel) and fronted by two actresses (Mila Kunis and Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon), this awkward mix of bloody violence and vulgar humour is too uneven to set any kind of a milestone. Still, it is a very enjoyable watch if you can take the movie for what it is. (Opens on August 23)
5. Big Brother
A Hong Kong education drama that’s rather more fun than its didactic objective would seem to allow, this pet project by action superstar Donnie Yen Ji-dan follows his character, a former soldier who returns to teach at his high school, as he inspires troubled pupils into leading a better life. Yen does fight in this movie, by the way. (Now showing)
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