Yuen Wah Movies
- 2009
Hong Kong action gets even hotter with the reunion of kung fu legend Sammo Hung and martial arts master Jacky Wu, plus the addition of the cuter-than-cute music group Twins (aka Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung) in starring roles. In Twins Mission, Hung and Wu play Lucky and Hey, men who unite to bring a stolen bead back to its rightful owners. With the help of two pretty twins (Choi and Chung), Lucky and Hey may be able to complete their objective, but there will be plenty of fight scenes along the way. ~ Kimber Myers, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sammo Hung, Charlene Choi, (more)
Set against the scenic backdrop of pre-World War II Australia, Baz Luhrmann's romantic period adventure stars Nicole Kidman as an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch, and Hugh Jackman as the rough-and-tumble cattle driver who helps protect her property from greedy English cattle barons. As the pair attempt to herd 2,000 head of cattle hundreds of miles across the treacherous Australian outback, they are stunned to bear witness to the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces -- who just a few months prior launched a devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, (more)
SPL collaborators Donnie Yen and Wilson Yip join forces once again for this high-energy adaptation of Wong Yuk-Ling's popular manga Dragon and Tiger Heroes. The Dragon Tiger Gate is a Hong Kong martial arts dojo co-founded by the descendents of Dragon (Yen) and Tiger (Nicholas Tse). Separated as children, Tiger fights for the cause of good and Dragon goes to work for fearsome drug smuggler Ma Kun (Chen Kuan-tai). As the action gets under way, Tiger gets into a scrap with Ma Kun's gang and ends up in possession of the Lousha Plaque - a sacred icon of immense value to the powerful criminals. Though Ma Kun and Dragon allow Tiger to abscond with the Lousha Plaque for the time being, Dragon soon sets out to recover the object as nunchaku-spinning warrior Turbo (Shawn Yue) makes his presence known. As Tiger attempts to lure Dragon away from the dark side, the pair is forced to work together for the first time in years in order to defeat formidable Lousha Gang leader Shibumi (Yu Kang), whose penchant for one-on-one fights sets the stage for an explosive climax. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, (more)
- 2006
Jeffrey Lau's epic, mythological fantasy adventure A Chinese Tall Story unfurls in the distant past, when a small band of travelers - monk Tripitaka (Nicholas Tse) and his (human) companions Monkey King (Chen Bo-lin), Piggy (Kenny Kwan) and Sandy (Steven Cheung) - embark on a lengthy, danger-filled quest through the Himalayan foothills to retrieve some Buddhist scriptures. En route, they encounter all manner of obstacles, such as being sabotaged by The Tree Demon and attacked by a band of cannibalistic lizard men. In a more realistic episode, Tripitaka must grapple with the unrequited love that a homely outcast, Yue Meiyan (Charlene Choi) feels for him; he then ultimately winds up in the midst of an elfin storybook village where he encounters an empathetic waylaid princess (Fan Bingbing). Throughout, director Lau plays aggressively with the film form, packing in everything from witty puns to cinematic allusions to postmodern cultural asides. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi, (more)
It's mahjong madness when a pair of scheming gamblers finds their once-lucrative hustle leading them into hot water in this action-comedy starring Kung Fu Hustle's Yuen Wah and Yuen Qiu and directed by God of Gamblers helmer Wong Jing. When betting man West meets a waiter named Wong who possesses the remarkable ability to remember the exact position of all 144 mahjong tiles on the table, the pair set into motion a foolproof scam that brings in big money on the mahjong circuit. Though the upcoming "Master of Mahjong" tournament offers the prospect of big money and even greater fame, the pair finds their once perfect plan going to pot when West is kidnapped by some scheming opponents with a plan of their own. Now, as the tournament draws near, it's up to Wong's boss Auntie Fei to enter the tournament, put her gambling skills to the test, and take the tables by storm. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
The work of international superstar Stephen Chow, Kung Fu Hustle is a humorous, special-effects-filled, action-packed martial arts epic set in early '40s China. A bumbling thief named Sing (Stephen Chow) desires to be the toughest member of the dreaded gangster hit squad known as The Axe Gang, but to completely join the gang he has to commit murder. When Sing attempts to rob a crowded run-down apartment complex known as Pig Sty Alley, the locals begin to defend themselves with some high-flying kung fu skills, and a tiny war erupts between the local masters and the axe-wielding gang. After the gang busts the ancient kung fu king known as The Beast (Leung Siu Lung) out of jail, tensions reach a boiling point as Pig Sty Alley's landlady (Yuen Qiu) leads an all-out attack against the gang and Sing discovers his true heroic fate. Kung Fu Hustle, which set box-office records across Asia during its December 2004 release, also stars Yuen Wah and Xing Yu, and features fight choreography by legendary masters of martial arts cinema Yuen Woo Ping and Sammo Hung. ~ Jason Gibner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen Chow, Yuen Wah, (more)
Clarence Fok Yiu-leung spins this slick action-comedy crime flick featuring an all-star cast. The film centers on Black Cougar (Alan Tang Kwong-wing), a crack thief who gets the job of a lifetime -- a shadowy client is paying him an obscene amount of money to swipe a photograph from a police station. Alan enlists the help of cabal of master criminals including a sexpot weapons specialist named Ching-ching (Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia), a gambling maven (Tony Leung Kar-fai) and an infantile computer geek (Dicky Cheung Wai-kin) who goes berserk if he doesn't have a pacifier to suck on. The group quickly learns that the whole thing is a set up by Black Cougar's evil brother Bloody Wolf (Wah Yuen). While Black Cougar gets captured by a band of villains, the rest of the team is forced to fend off the baddies. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
Even for viewers who can take or leave martial-arts films, the work of Jackie Chan bears special attention. Chan is quite simply the hardest-working movie star in the world, regularly participating in the sort of death-defying stuntwork which would make most American action heroes cringe in fear. Combining his daredevil heroics with an almost goofy brand of self-effacing humor, Chan is one of the genre's most entertaining and engaging personalities. In this film, third in the Police Story series, Chan plays a Hong Kong detective working undercover with the Chinese police to nab a Malaysian druglord. The usual hair-raising gamut of stunts follow, and numerous shootouts, fights and explosions surround the plucky cop as he combats bad guys atop a moving train, a bus, a motorcycle, a speedboat, cars, and trucks, eventually being swung through the city at high speed on a rope-ladder suspended from a helicopter. For the kind of fast-paced exotic thrills that make James Bond look like a wimp, this film is the place to go. There are some amusing comedy bits too, as when Chan's superiors all go undercover as his long-lost family, and the story zips along at a feverish clip. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Michelle Khan, (more)
Riding the boom of action-adventure yarns following the success of the Indiana Jones trilogy, Tsui Siu-ming spins this big-budget spectacle about really good feng shui. The film centers around a mountainous region in an Asian backwater banana republic reputed to have such good geomantic qualities that the descendents of all those buried in its earth will be blessed with fantastic fortune and good health. However, if a special ceremony is not performed on the grounds, then the luck will only last for 24 years. The film opens with a trio of Chinese Americans venturing to these mountains hoping to change their luck; Anna Wong (Moon Lee) is an executive facing a corporate meltdown, Wisely (Chin Kar-lok) is dying of brain cancer, and UCLA Prof. Chang (played by the director) is an expert in feng shui. Tin can potentate General Nguen (Yuen Wah) also has designs on the grounds -- hoping to turn his third world, fourth rate country into a superpower. Along the way, the three heroes fall in with a group of local rebels, including the high-kicking Nguen Van Vong (Sibelle Hu). ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- 1990
Taylor Wong Tai-loi directs this affable comedy fantasy about advertising execs Charles (Andy Lau Tak-wah) and Chi (Nat Chan Pak-cheung) who are ordered by their boss to go to mainland China and find an artifact to be used in a new series of hair tonic ads. Instead, the two happen upon voluptuous Princess Wendy (Joey Wang Tsu-hsien) and her handmaiden Mandy (Mui Siu-wai) who have been asleep since the Yuen dynasty. The two admen take their finds back to Hong Kong, but the party is followed by the dastardly Tin (Yuen Wah) who wants to claim the princess as his own whether she's game or not. Meanwhile, Charles and Chi, who imbibed some magical pills, are brimming full of supernatural abilities. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andy Lau Tak-wah, Chan Pak-cheung, (more)
Tsui Hark directs this critically panned kung fu action spectacular starring Jet Li as Jet, a martial arts master who ventures to San Francisco to find his old teacher Uncle Tak. When he gets there, he discovers that Tak's herbal shop has been trashed and the old man is missing. The reason, he soon learns, is Johnny Chan (Yuen Wah), the hotheaded leader of a kung fu school looking to best every master around. When Jet finally tracks Tak down, he soon finds himself targeted by Johnny and his thugs. Though shot in 1989, the film was not released until 1992 when Jet Li following the success of Once Upon a Time in China became a major star. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
Actor/director Sammo Hung gathered an international cast including the late Oscar winner Dr. Haing S. Ngor (The Killing Fields) and some of the most recognizable faces in Hong Kong cinema for this action-packed martial arts adventure. Set in 1976, the film focuses on a ragtag group of Chinese and Vietnamese prisoners trained by the United States government to carry out a potentially suicidal parachute mission into Vietnam. They are charged with destroying a cache of American weapons accidentally left behind when Saigon fell the previous year before they are recovered by the Vietcong. Led by Tung Ming-sun (Hung), the troops are escorted by a trio of hardbitten female guerrilla fighters from Cambodia (led by Joyce Godenzi), and guided by a black market peddler (Yuen Biao) and his insane uncle (Ngor). Chased by a crazed Vietnamese colonel (Yuen Wah), the team makes their way to the underground storage complex for a violent, impressively staged finale. Blending traditional genre elements with those of the American war film (notably The Dirty Dozen), the film co-stars Corey Yuen, Yuen Woo-ping, Dick Wei, and Phillip Ko, among a host of other familiar genre regulars. The dubbed version released by Tai Seng changes some character names to eliminate any Vietnamese among the heroes and cuts three sequences available in subtitled import editions from other distributors. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sammo Hung
Ricky Lau directs this fantastically successful horror yarn that successfully fused high-flying slapstick with creepy genre atmospherics. The film opens with Taoist priest Kau (Lam Ching-ying) along with his two hapless assistants, Chou (Chin Siu-ho) and Man Choi (Ricky Hui Koon-ying), set out to fix the Yam family's recent streak of bad fortune. The priest soon concludes that a vengeful feng shui master had tricked the family into burying its elder in a manner that was bound to reap bad luck. Yet before the problem could be corrected, grandpa comes bursting out of the ground and kills his son. When the son returns from the great beyond to reek havoc on the living, Kau eventually manages to put him to rest for good, though gramps continues to terrorize. Meanwhile, Chou has been seduced and bitten by a beautiful spirit and will turn into a vampire unless Kau comes to the rescue. This film not only launched four sequels, but the whole horror-comedy subgenre that exemplified Hong Kong cinema during the late '80s and early '90s. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
The plot of Daggers 8 revolves around the exploits of an octet of Kung Fu masters. They defend their own lives, and those of others, with drawn daggers and flashing fists. The "teamwork" aspect of the story allows for several ensemble battle sequences. Daggers 8 seldom drags during its 90 minutes, though repetition is inevitable. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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