Wang Zhonglei Movies

Dying IDC agent Jon (Jay Chou) teams up with his long-lost criminal sibling Yang (Nicholas Tse) to rescue Yang's daughter Sheng and kindly medical specialist Rachel (Lin Peng) from kidnappers in Southeast Asia. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A young social outcast joins forces with the daughter of a tai-chi master to defeat the villainous intruder who seeks to construct a railway through a remote village, in the process proving that he has what it takes to become a true master himself. Yang Luchan was born with a fleshy protrusion on his forehead. As a result, he was branded the village idiot and ostracized by his cruel neighbors. Encouraged by his mother to train in martial arts, Yang makes the arduous journey to Chen village, a peaceful hamlet populated exclusively by tai-chi practitioners. But the locals are wary of sharing their secrets with outsiders, and when Yang arrives, they challenge him to a series of duels. The worst beating comes at the hands of the gorgeous Yuniang, who pummels Yang mercilessly until an eccentric old man comes to his aid. Little does Yang realize that the old man is in fact the great Master Chen, a tai-chi legend who also happens to be Yuniang's father. Recognizing the warrior buried deep within the defeated pariah, Master Chen keeps his true identity concealed while stealthily giving Yang the tools to realize his true potential. Later, when the nefarious Fang Zijing arrives in town on a steam-powered leviathan and announces his intentions to build an unwelcomed railway through Chen village, Yang teams up with Yuniang to demolish the machine, thwart Fang's plans, and unlock the tai-chi warrior within. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Eight lonely souls search for the companions that will make their lives complete in this ensemble drama set in Taipei and Beijing. The captain of her college cycling team and a devoted daughter who's never too busy to lend a hand at the family restaurant, Yi Jia finds her future getting complicated after learning she has gotten pregnant by her best friend's Ni's boyfriend Kai. As tempers flare and emotions run high, the expectant mother ponders terminating the pregnancy to avoid any further conflict. Meanwhile, Ni's father Lu wrestles with his commitment to glamorous actress Zoe Fang, who's currently embroiled in an affair with her husband's handsome yet distant business partner Mark. Upon crossing paths with sweet, socially awkward waiter Kuan, Zoe ponders giving up the limelight in favor of true love. Subsequently returning to Beijing to consider purchasing a lavish new home, wealthy Mark finds himself strangely taken with Xiao-Ye Jin, the slightly-older older real estate agent who carelessly breaks her foot during the grand tour. When Mark offers assist her by giving her son a ride, he senses a substance that's been missing from his pampered life, and begins to wonder f he may have been looking for love in all the wrong places. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Lonely Xiao Mei (Xu Jiao) seeks to escape the misery of her increasingly unstable home life by embarking on a backpacking trip into the mountains with her adventurous new classmate. Based on Jimmy Liao's illustrated novel of the same name. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Chinese director Gao Qunshu takes on the subgenre of the contemporary western with this opus, starring Duan Yihong and Francis Ng and set in the arid wastelands of the Gobi Desert. Yihong plays Zhang Ning, a hitman-cum-underground boxer fleeing through the Gobi with his pregnant girlfriend, Sun Jing (Charlie Yeung. Several nemeses are hot on their trail, including a pair of ruthless killers (Ng, Yu Nan) and a cadre of lawmen headed by Detective Leopard (Duan Yihong). Early on, the officers manage to capture Zhang and Sun and take them to their camp, but the assassins soon appear as well, which forces Zhang to assume a heroic role in the presence of his captors, and ignites a series of surprising and explosive reversals. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

This Cantonese-language police procedural from director Dante Lam blends moralistic drama and tense action sequences, to startling effect. Distinguished detective Don Lee (Nick Cheung) takes a misstep with some grave consequences following a local drug bust, by issuing an arrest order that unveils the identity of cartel informant Jabber (Liu Kai-chi). Now at the mercy of local gangs, Jabber must live on the streets to protect his loved ones, which riddles Lee with guilt. The story then jumps forward one year, as history begins to repeat itself: Lee hires a new "snitch," Ghost (Nicolas Tse), who has been incarcerated while trying to work off his father's mob debt and free his sister from prostitution. As part of his undercover assignment for the Hong Kong Police Department, Ghost signs on as the driver for a gang of jewel thieves, and feeds Lee inside information about the cadre's next robbery. At the same time, however, he realizes that his decision to inform may ruin his potential for a romantic relationship with Dee (Guey Lun-mei), the girlfriend of local kingpin Barbarian (Lu Yi). The situation involving Jabber then rears its head once again, with unexpected long-term aftershocks. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

This gentle slice-of-life drama from China concerns Chin (Ge You), a middle-aged bachelor who leaves something to be desired in the appearance department. In desperation, he opts to invest some time and money into a personal ad - and spends the following weeks suffering through a nearly endless series of disappointing dates with ill-matched, unpleasant, and sometimes downright eccentric women. His fate turns somewhat when he meets Xiaoxiao (Shu Qi). She's gorgeous, she's engaging, and her personality meshes beautifully with his own - but Chin can't quite shake the feeling that she's way out of his league. Recalcitrant about the idea of approaching her romantically again, Chin settles for a friendship with Xiaoxiao and the two find a bright spot in each others' lives. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A veteran of China's Civil War rails against modern bureaucracy in hopes of finally receiving recognition for his bravery and to honor the memory of his fallen comrades in director Feng Xiaogang's big-budget war drama. The year was 1948, and the fighting between the Nationalist KMT and the Communist PLA is raging. In a small, northeast China town, Captain Gu Zidi (Zhang Hanyu) leads the Ninth Company in a fierce skirmish against the a rapidly weakening KMT unit. His blood boiling over the death of a political officer in battle, Captain Gu vengefully kills a KMT soldier despite the fact that the leader and his unit have just surrendered. Imprisoned for a few short days as a sort-of token gesture, Captain Gu makes the acquaintance of imprisoned political officer Wang Juncun (Yuan Wenkang, who has just been accused of cowardice and will likely receive the death penalty. Later, when Captain Gu is ordered to take the Ninth out on a dangerous mission, he requests that Wang join the brigade in battle. Unfortunately for the majority of the squad, the KMT forces are much more substantial this time around, and though a few men claim to have heard the signal for retreat, Captain Gu commands them to stand their ground: In the aftermath of the slaughter, Captain Gu is the last man standing. Still, the valiant soldier stages a remarkable recovery, and goes on to save the life of North Korean Er Dou (Deng Chao) during a battle against the Americans and South Koreans. A few years later, Captain Gu enlists the aid of Er Dou and Wang's widow in regaining his honor, and ensuring that his fellow soldiers didn't die in vain. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Love and war leads to conflicted alliances between two couples in this period romantic drama from China. In 1937, Lu Ping (Chen Kun) is a barber working in Shanghai as his nation is locked in a war with Japan. While Lu Ping is in love with a beautiful singer, Yu Mian (Wang Yajie), when he mistakenly kills a Japanese GI he is forced to leave her and hide from the law in a remote village. Song Fengnian (Ren Guangzhi), whose brother ran the shop where Lu worked, agrees to take him in, and he gets to know Song's daughter, an alluring young woman named Jiayi (Zeng Li) who is engaged to marry Ye Jiangtian (Liu Guanjun), a man on track to become a career military officer. Lu forgets all about Yu Mian when he meets Jiayi, and she seems to be taken with him. However, Ye can offer Jiayi a financial stability Lu cannot, and she cannot bring herself to break off her engagement. When the war comes to an end in 1945, Lu returns to Shanghai, and resumes his romance with Yu Mian. However, Ye and Jiayi soon relocate to Shanghai as well, and as Lu and Jiayi try to channel their mutual attraction into a friendship, Ye begins an affair with Yu. Lifashi (aka The Music Box) was the final feature film for Chen Yifei; he died before final work could be completed on the picture, and his friend and colleague Ng See-yuen stepped in to finish the project. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A World Without Thieves director Feng Xiaogang shifts his focus from modern-day con artists to tenth century intrigue with this tale of internal turmoil in the age of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms starring Zhang Ziyi, Daniel Wu, and Ge You. Her empire on the verge of a massive revolution as storms begin to brew both within the royal court as well as in the outlying kingdoms, the entrancing Empress Wan (Zhang) gazes upon her stepson, Prince Wu Luan (Wu), with the eyes of a forbidden lover rather than a caring mother. When the emperor dies an unexpected death and his younger brother Li (Ge) ascends to the throne, Empress Wan marries the newly appointed sovereign as a means of both protecting her beloved Wu Luan and cementing her position within the royal court. When assassins dispatched by Emperor Li fail in their attempt to silence Wu Luan and his majesty subsequently announces a lavish banquet, Empress Wan and Wu Luan realize that the time has finally come for them to take action against the murderous despot. The film demonstrates tremendous influence by Shakespearean plays, specifically Hamlet and Macbeth. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A lone hero comes to the rescue of a village about to be overrun by a marauding army in this historical epic from Hong Kong. In the year 370 B.C., China has been torn apart by a handful of warring factions, and the Zhao State has set out on a long march to invade and conquer the Yan State. En route, the ten thousand-strong Zhao army will pass through the town of Liang City, home to four thousand souls. Led by Lord Liang (Wang Zhiwen), an ineffectual and alcoholic leader, the people of Liang City fear the worse, and beg the warriors of the Mozi clan to come to their aid in protecting the city. As Zhao general Xiang Yanzhong (Ahn Sung-ki) and his men loom on the horizon, a single Mozi fighter, Ge Li (Andy Lau), arrives in Liang City; while the townspeople are certain the battle is already lost, Li is a brilliant strategist, and convinces the handful of Liang soldiers that they can indeed fend off the Zhao invaders. With the help of Liang cavalry woman Yi Yue (Fan Bingbing) and Zi Tuan (Nicky Wu), a master of the bow and arrow, Li is able to fight the Zhao soldiers to a standstill; however, Lord Liang is humiliated by the success of the interloper, and his right-hand man (Wu Ma) plants seeds of doubt in the villagers' minds about their new champion. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi