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Film reviews

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Film reviews
Hollywood blockbusters, local greats, European movies, Japanese and Korean dramas, animation, art house films, you can find them all here.
Jessica Alexander as Hannah and Miguel Torres Umba as Ben the chimpanzee in a still from “Primate”. Photo: courtesy of Paramount Pictures
American cinema

Review | Primate: 47 Meters Down director back for a bloody killer ape slasher

This Johannes Roberts film about a chimp that goes on the attack after contracting rabies relies on low-brow gore, and not much else.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Unexpected Family: Jackie Chan trades kicks for tears in sentimental drama

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Finch & Midland: Anthony Wong and Patrick Tam can’t save grim diaspora drama

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European cinema

Review | 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – Ralph Fiennes leads savage sequel

Fiennes plays a bigger role alongside Jack O’Connell in this unsettling follow-up that sets the franchise up for a grandstand finish.

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Ralph Fiennes in a still from 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (category III), co-starring Jack O’Connell and Alfie Williams and directed by Nia DaCosta.
European cinema

Review | The Thing with Feathers: Benedict Cumberbatch carries moving tale of grief

Benedict Cumberbatch and Sam Spruell star in this touching drama about a father struggling to bring up his two boys after his wife dies.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Back to the Past: Louis Koo, Raymond Lam lead nostalgic film sequel

This big-budget sci-fi fantasy may be an emotional watch for fans of the 2001 Hong Kong show A Step into the Past, even if it falls short.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Pass and Goal: Gigi Leung leads football-themed Hong Kong family comedy

Pass and Goal, starring Gigi Leung and newcomer Chau Tsz-yuet, defies expectations with its feel-good story, good acting and funny dialogue.

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Gigi Leung in a still from football-themed Hong Kong family comedy Pass and Goal (category IIA, Cantonese), directed by Jill Wong. Peter Chan and Ling Man-lung co-star.
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Good Autumn, Mommy: Shu Qi anchors gritty Chinese rural drama

Shu Qi stars as an impoverished woman who believes her newborn was taken from her in Good Autumn, Mommy, set in rural Guangzhou in 1995.

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American cinema

Review | Avatar: Fire and Ash – stunning visuals carry breathless third instalment

Avatar: Fire and Ash sees the Na’vi again fighting for survival in an action-packed sequel that introduces Pandora’s menacing Mangkwan clan.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Two Seasons, Two Strangers: a hypnotic ode to writing and travel

Starring Shim Eun-kyung and Yuumi Kawai, Japanese drama Two Seasons, Two Strangers is both fascinating and beautiful.

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Yuumi Kawai in a still from Two Seasons, Two Strangers
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Under Current: Aaron Kwok, Francis Ng seek justice in fun but silly thriller

This Hong Kong tale of greed and corruption is a watchable portrait of greed and corruption, but it is also thoroughly detached from reality.

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Aaron Kwok in a still from Under Current (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Alan Mak. Francis Ng and Alex Fong co-star.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Road to Vendetta: Jeffrey Ngai plays an assassin in his first lead role

A John Wick-inspired action thriller co-produced by Hong Kong and Japan, Road to Vendetta is a textbook case of style over substance.

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American cinema

Review | Zootopia 2: Disney’s formulaic sequel delights with visual wit

Full of puns, visual gags and a song written by Shakira and Ed Sheeran seemingly on constant play, Zootopia 2 is a fun if predictable watch.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Someone Like Me: Fish Liew shines as a disabled woman seeking sex

This daring Hong Kong-set drama follows a woman with cerebral palsy who wishes to experience sex before having a hysterectomy.

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Carlos Chan (left) and Fish Liew in a still from Someone Like Me
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Golden Boy: Louis Cheung anchors hot-blooded yet generic boxing drama

Cheung’s eye-catching central performance is the highlight of Joe Chan’s mildly entertaining drama co-starring Leander Lau and Eric Tsang.

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Louis Cheung Kai-chung in a still from Golden Boy.
American cinema

Review | Wicked: For Good – Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo dazzle in Part 2

Jon M. Chu’s follow-up to his 2024 smash shines like a rainbow with splendid visuals and acting. Could Grande and Erivo bag Oscars this time?

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Against All Odds: Hong Kong-set WWII thriller punches above its weight

A downed US pilot’s rescue entwines with a plot to assassinate a Japanese official in a gripping, intimate WWII thriller set in Hong Kong.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Kokuho: kabuki epic with Ryo Yoshizawa is the best Japanese film of the year

Kokuho is a lavish, bewitching story of two Japanese kabuki theatre actors, raised in the same family and competing to become the best.

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Ryo Yoshizawa in a still from Kokuho. Photo: Shuichi Yoshida/ASP
American cinema

Review | Now You See Me: Now You Don’t – too many magicians, not enough magic

This third film about magicians pulling off a diamond heist has little to offer and fails to pull any excitement out of the hat.

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Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | 96 Minutes: train bomb thriller forgoes excitement for life lessons

This overcomplicated tale of a bomb on a train overflows with guilt, life lessons and earnest emotions without much of a conclusion.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Another World: macabre human fable is a new milestone for Hong Kong animation

A haunting, philosophical triumph, Another World is a morally complex film and one of the best out of Hong Kong this year.

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Yuri (left, voiced by Christy Choi Hiu-tung) and Gudo (Chung Suet-ying) in a still from Another World (category IIA, Cantonese). Directed by Tommy Ng.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Black Showman: Masaharu Fukuyama leads boring murder mystery adaptation

Fukuyama fails to conjure excitement as a magician-turned-sleuth alongside Kasumi Arimura in this screen version of Keigo Higashino’s novel.

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Masaharu Fukuyama in a still from Black Showman (category: IIA, Japanese), co-starring Kasumi Arimura and directed by Ryo Tanaka.
American cinema

Review | Black Phone 2: Ethan Hawke reprises child kidnapper role in horror sequel

Ethan Hawke is back from the dead as child killer The Grabber, this time in a snowbound camp, in this gory supernatural horror film.

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American cinema

Review | Tron: Ares – third time’s almost a charm for sci-fi film series

Starring Jared Leto and Greta Lee, Joachim Ronning’s Tron Ares is at times thrilling but features an overly familiar plot focusing on AI.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Measure in Love: Angela Yuen and Greg Hsu in baffling fantasy romance

Benny Kung’s dystopian fairy tale in which humanity is separated across two sides of the ocean looks good but leaves basic logic far behind.

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Greg Hsu (left) and Angela Yuen in a still from Measure in Love (category IIA, Cantonese and Mandarin versions available), directed by Benny Kung.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Sons of the Neon Night: star-studded crime epic proves an indelible watch

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung Ka-fai are joined by a host of stars in Juno Mak’s crime thriller set in an alternate 1994 Hong Kong.

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Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from Sons of the Neon Night.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Dollhouse: haunted doll J-horror with Masami Nagasawa is great fun

Japanese director Shinobu Yaguchi mixes horror and riotous comedy in this film about a family tormented by a possessed doll.

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Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | The People Upstairs: cheeky sex comedy directed by and starring Ha Jung-woo

Ha shows skill on both sides of the camera in his movie with Gong Hyo-jin and Kim Dong-wook as a prim couple seduced by swinging neighbours.

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