Linda Kuk Movies
Jeff Lau directs this action flick cum romantic comedy. The film centers on CIA agent Jeff Chang (Chow Yun-fat) who is assigned to steal a Chinese national treasure, even though he is not told what this treasure might be. He meets his contact Tong Ling (Chin Han) who instructs him to hold up in a Shaolin temple. There he meets Miss Mei (Wu Chien-lien), who proves be an unusual woman by any yardstick -- she has the freakish ability to make flowers grow on people and also can pass things through other solid objects. At first Miss Mei thinks little of the suave spy, but as Jeff teaches the monks at the temple to play baseball, she begins to warm to him. Meanwhile, Jeff begins to realize that the treasure at the heart of his mission is none other than Miss Mei. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Hard-Boiled is the last film directed by Hong Kong action auteur John Woo before his arrival in the U.S. This 1992 thriller, along with The Killer, is widely seen as one of his best from his Hong Kong days. Every ingredient of the quintessential Woo thriller is present, including his ever-present anti-hero (Chow Yun-Fat). Yun-Fat portrays a maverick, clarinet-playing cop nicknamed "Tequila" whose partner is killed in the dizzying chaos of a restaurant gunfight with a small army of gangsters. It is soon revealed that one of the mob's high-ranking assassins is Tony (Tony Leung), an undercover cop who, despite his badge, is dangerously close to the edge. Tequila and Tony must team up in a tense partnership, and their common pursuit of a vicious crime lord results in a brilliantly elaborate climax in a hospital, where the heroes must rescue newborn babies from the maternity ward while fighting off dozens of mob soldiers. The characters Tequila and Tony are two sides of the same coin, another trademark theme of Woo's films that would later be most fully realized with Nicolas Cage and John Travolta in the American hit Face/Off. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Bowie Lam, (more)
For this 1991 action comedy from Hong Kong, director John Woo took a break from his ultraviolent thrillers; it was made a year after Bullet in the Head, and a year before Hard-Boiled. Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, and Cherie Chung portray a trio of orphans who have grown to become art thieves. When their foster father (Kenneth Tsang), a powerful crime boss, forces them into stealing a painting, they pull off the job but are double-crossed. To get even, the trio plans a heist to steal the painting back. The three lead characters are funny and romantic; they're daring art thieves in the tradition of "The Cat" from To Catch a Thief or The Pink Panther, and the film evokes the same cosmopolitan feel. Once a Thief is far less bloody than Woo's gangster pictures, but in this film, the burglary sequences possess all the astounding grace of his other films' gunfights. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, (more)
Michelle Yeoh (billed as Michelle Khan) stars as Ming Ming, a bullwhip-wielding pilot and adventurer inspired heavily by Indiana Jones. Ming Ming gets involved in a rebel plot against the Japanese occupation of China during the 1930s. Her efforts are confounded then later aided by a con man whom she mistakes for a spy she is supposed to contact (Richard Ng). This film showcases Yeoh's visually impressive martial arts abilities and also features the international intrigue of Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Ng, Michelle Khan, (more)
The first film role of the late Brandon Lee, this Hong Kong thriller is the story of Brandon (Lee), a hard-working young man who has an unfortunate friendship with Michael (Michael Wong), a gangster who has his eye on Brandon's girlfriend May (Regina Kent). Michael frames Brandon for the murder of one of his rivals, and Brandon is imprisoned. Many years later, Brandon's reunion with May and their son is cut short when Michael kidnaps the mother and child. Brandon must rescue his family and exact revenge on Michael. Although Lee had yet to reach the level of acting demonstrated in The Crow and Rapid Fire, this 1986 film provides a better showcase for his martial arts abilities than his later American films; each film would progressively de-emphasize his skills. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandon Lee, Michael Wong, (more)
