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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.
Jackie Chan (right) and Peng Yuchang in a still from Unexpected Family (category I, Mandarin), directed by Li Taiyan.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

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

Chan excels as a man with Alzheimer’s disease in this well-meaning but ham-fisted film about the importance of family.

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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

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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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Benedict Cumberbatch in a still from The Thing with Feathers (category: IIB) directed by Dylan Southern. Sam Spruell co-stars.
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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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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Shu Qi (front) and Bai Ke in a still from Good Autumn, Mommy.
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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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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Jeffrey Ngai in a still from Road to Vendetta (category IIB; Cantonese, Japanese, English, Mandarin), directed by Njo Kui-ying. Sara Minami co-stars.
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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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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Ariana Grande (left) and Cynthia Erivo in a still from Wicked: For Good (category: I), directed by Jon M. Chu and co-starring Michelle Yeoh.
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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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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(From left) Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco in a still from Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. Photo: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate
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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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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Mason Thames (left) and Ethan Hawke in a still from Black Phone 2 (category III), directed by Scott Derrickson. Madeleine McGraw co-stars.
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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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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Masami Nagasawa in a still from Dollhouse (category IIB; Japanese), directed by Shinobu Yaguchi. Masami Nagasawa and Koji Seto co-star.
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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Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | The Great Flood: Kim Da-mi can’t save bewildering Netflix sci-fi fantasy

Kim Da-mi stars in what begins as a disaster movie then spins off into science fiction, a move that will surely leave viewers floundering.

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