Fan Bingbing Movies
- 2009
A simple Chinese immigrant wages a perilous war against one of the most powerful criminal organizations on the planet in this sprawling action drama directed by Derek Yee (One Night in Mongkok) and starring Jackie Chan, Daniel Wu, and Masaya Kato. In Japan, foreign migrants are shunned by mainstream society. Taunted by the yakuza, they live in constant fear of being discovered and repatriated. Into this perilous world ventures Steelhead (Chan), a humble tractor repairman who has traveled to Tokyo in search of his missing girlfriend, Xiu Xiu (Xu Jinglei), who vanished into thin air shortly after arriving in the city. It doesn't take Steelhead long to learn just what kind of hardships Chinese immigrants in Japan endure at the hands of underworld gangsters and foreign crime syndicates, and upon discovering that Xiu Xiu has adapted a Japanese identity and married up-and-coming yakuza chief Eguichi (Masaya Kato), the two men form an uneasy alliance. Over time, Steelhead earns the respect of his fellow Chinese immigrants by establishing a place for them to gather. But the dark side still beckons to Steelhead, because after helping Eguichi dispense with a powerful rival, he is granted full control of Shinjuku's most popular nightspots. Resistant to the allure of the criminal lifestyle, Steelhead discovers a new love and opens a tractor repair business just outside the city. When Equichi begins using Steelhead's former compatriots as pawns to front the yakuza's drug trade, the vengeful immigrant returns to the city determined to exact justice, even if it means destroying the future of the woman he once loved. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Naoto Takenaka, (more)
SPL power duo Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen re-team for this raucous action film about a loose-cannon cop on the trail of three drug-dealing brothers. Jun (Yen) is the kind of cop who always gets his man, but may set a whole city block ablaze in the process. Though his superiors are constantly on his case, Jun knows how to get the job done and never hesitates to innovate in times of crisis. Archer (Lui Leung Wai), Tony (Collin Chou), and Tiger (Xing Yu) are three dope slingers who supply the product for much of the local drug trade, and Jun is determined to take them down at all costs. Assisting Jun in his task is undercover cop Wilson (Louis Koo), a seasoned veteran capable of infiltrating the gang and gaining their trust. Though Wilson is at first successful in his mission, his cover is soon blown and a fierce battle leaves him unable to walk on his own. Fortunately for the good guys, Archer is captured in the violent fracas. While at first this seems like a major coup for law enforcement, the small victory takes a grim turn when vengeful brother Tiger vows to eliminate sole witness Wilson before the case ever goes to trial. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donnie Yen, Louis Koo, (more)
Chinese director Hua Tao-Teng's Mandarin-language gothic horror picture The Matrimony (AKA Xin zhong you gui) unfurls in Shanghai, during the 1920s, when the fiancée of wealthy Junchu is killed in a bizarre accident. Junchu allows his mother to talk and pressure him into marrying Sansan, another woman all but unknown to him. He agrees - begrudgingly - but in time Sansan's body is occupied by Junchu's dead fiancee's vengeful spirit, which drives Sansan over the edge and sends her plummeting into insanity and homicide. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Mainland writer/director Li Yu teams with producer and screenwriter Fang Li for this tale of money and love in the Chinese capitol. Lin Dong (Tony Leung Kar-fai) is a resourceful entrepreneur from the southern province of Guangdong who has risen through the ranks to become the manager of the highly profitable Golden Basin Foot Massage Parlor. The popular parlor is staffed by a group of attractive young girls that includes Liu Pingguo (Fan Bingbing) and Xiaomei (Zeng Meihuizi), two Guangdong natives who are also looking for a better life in the big city. One night, after some heavy drinking, Dong takes Pingguo up to his lavish apartment and awkwardly forces himself on the girl as her window-cleaner husband, Kun (Tong Dawei), watches in shock from his harness outside. Later, when Pingguo discovers that she is pregnant, Dong, his infertile wife, Wang Mei (Elaine Jin), Kun, and the mother-to-be all sit down together to sign contracts that will allow Dong to adopt the child in exchange for a healthy chunk of change. The airtight agreement slowly begins to unravel, however, when the child is born and biological mother Pingguo realizes that giving up her child simply isn't an option. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Kar-Fai, Fan Bingbing, (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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Lau, Ahn Sung-ki, (more)
- 2005
A little boy becomes a metaphor for a society in search of itself in this Chinese dramedy. Hoping to score a ratings coup, a cynical television producer (Bingbing Fan) creates a reality show about a five-year-old boy (Zou Yanwen) who searches for his long-lost mother with the help of his divorced father (Chapman To). ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chapman To, Fan Bingbing, (more)
