Joe Ma Movies
- 2010
In this sequel to the hugely successful Korean romantic comedy My Sassy Girl, gorgeous Shangzhen (Lynn Xiong-Ip Man) saves suicidal Jianyu (Leon Jay Williams) from taking his own life following a bad break-up, and convinces him to help her sabotage her ex-boyfriend's upcoming wedding. But the deeper Shangzhen plunges Jianyu's life into chaos, the harder he falls for the emotionally damaged beauty. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2008
An ordinary woman is transformed into a fighting machine in the wake of a shocking crime in this action drama from Japan. Sasori (Miki Mizuno) is a housewife happily married to a policeman (Dylan Kuo) who plays guitar in his spare time. One day, a gang of violent criminals break into Sasori's home and take hold of her husband as Sasori is goaded into murdering his sister. When the police arrive, Sasori is arrested as her husband sits in stunned silence. Convicted of murder, Sasori must prove her mettle against the tough-as-nails inmates at a grim women's prison, but the former housewife reveals she can give as good as she gets in a fight. Sasori runs afoul of the prison staff and the warden (Lam Suet) exiles her into a woodland just outside the prison grounds, where she's isolated with little hope of escape. To Sasori's surprise, she encounters a hermit known as the Corpse Collector (Simon Yam), who gives her a crash course in the martial arts and helps her escape. Sasori fights her way back to civilization and tracks down her husband, who is now playing with a rock band at a night spot, while his wife is determined to get revenge for being sent through hell. Sasori was based on a classic manga by Tooru Shinohara, and was previously adapted for the screen under the title Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2004
The budding romance between a girl blinded in a childhood accident and a dating agency owner who has inexplicably lost his own eyesight is contrasted against the tender relationship between a heartbroken young woman and the man who was mysteriously guided to her by forces he cannot comprehend in this life-affirming romance starring Tony Leung. As a young girl, Cheung (Miriam Yeung) was left blind following a tragic accident. But although she has since led a contented life with her doting father, it's obvious that she still longs for true companionship. One day, when Cheung's father happens across an ad for a dating agency, the girl decides to take a chance and sign up. Though scheming agency owner Ho (Leung) remains doubtful that he will ever find Cheung a date, he accepts the challenge regardless and tries every means at his disposal to find the girl a suitable mate. Despite his repeated failures, however, Ho gradually feels himself growing closer to Cheung over time. Then, one morning, Ho awakens to realize that he has suddenly lost his sense of sight. Though no doctor he talks to can explain why Ho has suddenly gone blind, sympathetic Cheung does her best to help him adjust to his sightless new world - her optimism proving an indispensable source of support for the once swaggering matchmaker. Meanwhile, across town, a young man faces his own set of romantic hurdles as he makes his way to a woman with a broken heart. Perhaps, somehow, both couples will find the strength to overcome their fears and finally make love work. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Miriam Yeung, (more)
The Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1970s -- in which urban intellectuals were relocated either by choice or through force to rural areas in the interest of educating the poor or aiding farm labor -- provides the backdrop for this romantic drama from filmmaker Lu Yue. Ye Xingyu (Shu Qi) is an idealistic young woman who lives in the Yunnan province, where she teaches language classes and is pledged to marry Yuan Dingguo (Fang Bin), who works on a rubber plantation. Xingyu's father is seriously ill, and she wants to move to Kunming to be with him, but getting permission from local and federal authorities proves all but impossible. One day, Xingyu meets Liu Simeng (Liu Hua), who has moved from Beijing to Yunnan to work in an educational program. While Xingyu is initially put off by Simeng's big-city ways, she comes to admire his sincere dedication to duty, and he is clearly infatuated with her. But a scuffle between locals and Simeng's fellow transplants from Beijing leads to a simmering rivalry, which comes to a boil when Dingguo becomes fiercely jealous of Xingyu's blossoming friendship with Simeng. Meiren Cao was written for the screen in part by Shi Xiaoke, whose novel Chulian provided the basis for the story. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liu Ye
- 2003
Directed by Joe Ma, Love Undercover 2: Love Mission features Miriam Yeung as a promising young police officer who has been given the weighty task of protecting visiting royalty. This is hard enough for Yeung as it is, but the challenge of resurrecting her nearly defunct relationship with Daniel Wu may prove to be an even more difficult endeavor. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- 2002
Desperate to keep her job as a proposal for her dismissal is making the rounds, Fong (Miriam Yeung) deliberately lies to her new boss Wu (Edison Chan) and tells him that she is pregnant. Having come from a single-parent home, sympathetic Wu rejects the proposal and Fong seems to be in the clear for the time being. Her relief is short lived however, when office gossip soon begins to fuel speculation as to the identity of the father. With some help from her best friend Ken (Wyman Wong), Fong begins to learn everything there is about pregnancy, but when the time comes to actually give birth, how will Fong handle the true outcome of her deceit? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Yeung, Edison Chen, (more)
- 2002
Soi Cheang's horror film Hunbo Yitsin Chi Dai Tau Gwai Ying (Horror Hotline...Big Head Monster) stars Francis Ng as the producer of a radio program that involves people sharing ghost stories. Ben (Ng) airs a call about a mutant killer baby. Intrigued by the story, he teams up with a reporter (Josie Ho) to investigate. He finds a person involved in the story on the verge of death, while Ben's nurse girlfriend, Helen (Niki Chow), is treating a man who has been attacked by the monster. Helen has a secret she has been keeping from Ben. This secret may have something to do with the monster. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Francis Ng, Josie Ho, (more)
- 2001
A cop near the end of his career joins forces with a 16-year-old girl to find his missing granddaughter in this action-packed drama with comic overtones. Wu (Law Lit) is a veteran Hong Kong police detective who finds himself taking on a case with a personal impact when his teenage granddaughter Cho disappears and he's assigned to investigate. Wu contacts P (Zeny Kwok), Cho's best friend, who claims the missing girl borrowed a large amount of money from her before she went missing. Wu is a by-the-books cop, while P is all adolescent attitude, and at first they mix about as well as oil and water, but a grudging respect begins to grow between them as they set aside their differences in hopes of finding Cho. Before long, Wu and P are joined in their search by Tofu (Chui Tienyou), P's significant other. Law Lit starred in a number of martial arts pictures in the 1970s under the name Lo Lieh. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2000
Hong Kong martial arts filmmaker Kim Yeong-jun directs the romantic adventure Bicheon Mu, based on the manga by Korean writer Kim Hye-rin. Shot in China and set in 1343, the story involves the love affair between orphan Jin-ha (Shin Hyeon-jun) and the general's daughter, Sullie (Kim Heui-seon). After learning that Jin-ha has been killed in battle, she appeases her father and marries Mongol Nam-gung Jun-kwang (Jeong Jin-yeong). Jin-ha gets better, learns about his heritage, and leads a team of sword-wielding warriors. Ten years later, the lovers are reunited. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shin Hyun-Joon
One of Hong Kong's brightest young directors, Winston Yip, whose previous work, Mongkok Story, received a 1996 Hong Kong critics' prize, returns to the screen with this character-driven reworking of the gangster genre. Mike (Francis Ng) and his younger partner Brian (Louis Koo) are plainclothed policemen hot on the trail of a violent band of bank robbers. Their search leads them to a grotty old Hong Kong tenement. Expecting a long surveillance, the pair hole up in the apartment of the building's owner, an old woman called Granny (Helena Law), who is alternately gruff and kind toward them. While there, they get to know some of the locals and eventually fall in love -- Mike with a beautiful pregnant single mom who runs a laundromat (played by 1991 Miss Malaysia Stephanie Lin) and Brian with a teenaged slacker (Michelle Alicia Saram). Just as the two get comfortable in their new surroundings, the crooks make their inevitable return, resulting in gunplay and stylized over-the-top violence. This film was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Francis Ng
Master Hong Kong director Ringo Lam spins this wild genre-bending flick that is equal parts psychodrama, action thriller, caper movie, and ghost story. The film opens with computer designer Ma (Lau Ching-wan) getting kidnapped in a parking structure. His girlfriend Amy Fu (Amy Kwok) informs the police that though he had been jobless for a while and had a lot of debt, he was basically a good egg. Police detective Pit (Tony Leung Kar-wai) soon discovers Ma beaten, bloodied, and dangling upside down from the ceiling of an old abandoned hotel -- one that has been notoriously haunted since the murder-suicide of the owner and his feckless wife. Ma subsequently starts terrifying Amy by behaving like the famous ghost of the hotel. The police, however, suspect that Ma's possession might be a ruse to shield some larger and more nefarious crime. Due to a creative dispute that Lam had with producer Joe Ma, there are two different endings to this film. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lau Ching-Wan, Amy Kwok, (more)
Superstar comedian Stephen Chow continues with his streak of successful of his courtroom-themed comedies, like Justice, My Foot and Hail to the Judge, with this yarn set in 1899. Chan (Chiau) is not only a brilliant lawyer, but also a master practical joker known far and wide as "The King of Brain-trusters." His perennial victim is the long-suffering Foon (Eric Kot), his clueless assistant. After 20 years of putting up with Chan's japing, Foon one day freaks out and flees to Hong Kong, which has just been placed under British law. When Foon winds up with a murder rap, Chan ventures down to the colony looking to free him. Unfortunately, Chan's buffoonery soon lands him jail for contempt of court and his wife, Wu-man (Karen Mok Man-wai) is forced to take over. Yau Chingmy, Bowie Lam, and Law Kar-ying also appear. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
Martial arts star Jet Li donned a black hat and mask to portray a comic book superhero in this pulp action tale that gets the full-blown Hong Kong treatment from choreographer Yuen Wo Ping, who later designed the fight scenes for The Matrix (1999). Li stars as Tsui Chik, leader of Squad 701, an elite commando team of genetically-engineered super-soldiers. When the unit was deemed a failure because of mental instability in some of the test subjects, the project was disbanded. Tsui now lives quietly in Hong Kong, masquerading as a shy librarian whose only friend is a cop (Lau Ching Wan). When some drug lords begin turning up dead, Tsui dons a black mask and hat to investigate the slayings and learns that his former Squad 701 comrades, led by psychotic Commander Hung (Patrick Lung), are plotting to take over the drug kingpin's illegal trade. Among their number is Tsui's ex-girlfriend Kaelin (Francoise Yip). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jet Li
- 1996
Joe Ma Wai-ha, Chin Man-kei, and Yip Wai-man spin this wild and woolly horror-comedy omnibus flick. The film opens with reporter Yinyin getting a scoop on the shadowy, secretive "Strange and Unbelievable Experience Society" which meets only once a year. The requirement for membership: to relate a "strange and unbelievable" experience to other members. The story is graded on horribleness, unbelievability, and poise. In the first tale, Wang Kai-lang (Cheung Tat-ming) is a harried accountant who is at the end of his rope regarding his boss. He buys a large knife, planning to butcher the man, but instead scares the guy into a heart attack. The accountant's new boss is a complete knock-out (Gigi Lai Chi) who dispenses her own brand of justice on her underling. In the second tale, Ball (John Tang Yat-kwan) is a randy college lad who has shacked up with a comely young lass who unfortunately might actually be a man-killing ghost. The final tale tells of a lonely housewife (Anita Yuen) whose husband is away on business in Shanghai. She rents out a room to a college student (Hsu Chi). Although the student seems like the perfect boarder, the housewife begins to suspect that the student is trying to replace her. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
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