Wong Wing-Ming Movies
- 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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi, (more)
Chinese Odyssey 2002, produced by Wong Kar-Wai, is writer-director Jeff Lau's energetic parody of Chinese kung fu epics, with a bit of Shakespeare thrown in. Chang Chen (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) plays the Emperor, who, desperate for the free-spirited life of a wanderer, tries to escape from the royal palace with his sister, the Princess (Faye Wong, little seen since starring in Wong's Chungking Express). He's caught and returned to his angry mother by the royal guards, but the Princess, disguised as a man, manages to escape. Meanwhile, King Bully (Tony Leung, who also starred in Chungking Express) has returned to his hometown, where he is widely despised for his bullying ways, to run a restaurant with his tomboy sister, Phoenix (Vicki Zhao of Shaolin Soccer). They have a very close relationship. In fact, King Bully mistakenly believes that he can read his sister's mind. When the Princess arrives in town, King Bully finds himself drawn to her, but, believing she's a man, decides that his attraction is some kind of empathy with Phoenix. King Bully and the Princess spend a night eating and drinking together. In the morning, the Princess leaves. King Bully, determined that the Princess will marry Phoenix, vows to bring the charismatic young "man" back. She does return, but soon realizes that the royal guards are following her. Meanwhile, the Emperor convinces his mother to let him leave the palace to go look for the Princess. By the time he gets to town, the Princess has been carted off by the royal guards, with King Bully in hot pursuit. He's immediately attracted to Phoenix. More confusion ensues. Chinese Odyssey 2002 had its U.S. premiere at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival. The film was awarded Best Film, and Faye Wong Best Actress, by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Faye Wong, (more)
Patrick Leung directed this bloody Hong Kong thriller about a nameless hitwoman (Jacqueline Wu) who, for reasons not entirely clear and never fully developed, has a lower than average body temperature. She is cold-blooded in other ways as well, assassinating her targets with steely detachment and having only two real acquaintances: the Cambodian woman who gives her killing assignments and money, and the street vendor Long Shek (Lau Ching-wan), at whose stand she habitually relaxes after successful hits with a bowl of noodles. Long Shek dubs her Pretty Ghost, and the two gradually become something like friends. Pretty Ghost ends up traveling to South Korea to assassinate a local gangland kingpin, a job she decides will be her last. Unfortunately, the dead man's bodyguard, Yichin (Han Sang-woo), is out for revenge and comes after Pretty Ghost, and she is quickly betrayed by her Cambodian boss. Violent as it may be, the film also spends a good deal of time exploring Pretty Ghost's character, and her slow change from icy killing machine to humanized woman is well handled by Wu and screenwriter Szeto Wai-cheuk. Shirley Wong and Cheung Sung-kei co-star. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lau Ching-Wan, Wu Chien-lien, (more)
- 1997
A crack shot with a cool head and an eye for beautiful dames, Mumble Chow, private detective, embarks upon one of his most challenging cases when a pretty femme fatale lures him to the home of a triad boss looking for his missing daughter Cher. Stuffed with action, comedy and beautiful women, this exciting Hong Kong-set detective adventure is based on a popular Japanese manga. Before becoming a gumshoe, Ben Chow had been a marksman with one of the city's most elite commando police units. He got fired after arriving late to a training exercise that ended in disaster. As a detective, he meets Cher by accident when he saves her from a deadly situation. After going to work for her father, he manages to find the missing girl and bring her home. The murder of her oily fiancé, causes the triad boss to hire Mumble as Cher's new bodyguard. That's fine with the detective, for he wants to kindle a relationship with her. At the same time, he is quietly stalked by a vengeful woman who is convinced that Mumble murdered her father. Other troubles arise when someone kidnaps Cher's father, and Mumble finds out that his former commando buddies are out to fulfill a contract on his head. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Chow, Pauline Suen, (more)
Following up on his two-fisted Hong Kong action thriller Full Contact, ace director Ringo Lam spins this hard-boiled revenge drama. After the murder of his parents and only sister at the hands of the villianous gun-running billionaire Ray Lui (Paul Chun Pui) in 1975, crack jet pilot Yan (Andy Lau Ling-tung) vows revenge. Pairing up with Shang (David Chiang Da-wei) -- a Cambodian born CIA operative -- Yan ventures to Thailand, where he soon becomes romantically entangled with Liu's mistress Mona (Rosamund Kwan). Afterwards, events send him to San Francisco where he falls for Liu's beautiful, innocent daughter Crystal (Jacqueline We). Soon Yan finds himself included in Liu inner circle, accompanying the gangster to the secret hideout of a Cambodian autocrat. Yan places a beacon in the dictator's bunker so that the CIA can locate and destroy it with a surprise air strike. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The true story of a major turning point in ancient Chinese history is presented in this epic drama covering the destruction of the Qin Dynasty in the late third century B.C. Most specifically the film focuses upon the battle between the Qin and Chu forces in the first half, and in the second it focuses upon the personal competition between the Chu leaders as they fight for control of the territory. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
