Yugo Sakamoto's unique brand of action filmmaking reaches its (current) peak in BABY ASSASSINS, but A JANITOR is the film where he fine-tuned his craft.
The story of an orphan raised by a Yakuza boss who must protect the daughter of said gangster against various assassins, this film is slightly less polished and differs greatly in terms of tone. No teenage humour, no levity, A JANITOR is a serious affair and it doesn't lend itself as well with Sakamoto's shared…
Chinese science-fiction cinema has a long history of unsure beginnings, failures, so-bad-it’s-good movies, exploitation flicks, as well as sporadic, intimist successes. Chinese-speaking sci-fi films exist since 1959, but The Wandering Earth marks the start of a new era for the industry. The film can be seen as the unquestionable arrival of China on the global map of science-fiction cinema. Regardless of its artistic achievements, it will henceforth be impossible to speak of worldwide audiovisual sci-fi without mentioning the People’s Republic…
The sun is setting on a calm New York City evening when suddenly, the camera pans to the right to reveal a world burdened by thunder and heavy rain. It’s like the opening shot of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellumnavigates two different dimensions: the normal, real-life one, and the cinematic, fictitious one. The director is inviting us to dive back into this neon-drenched parallel universe almost exclusively inhabited by assassins and defined by its strict set of rules that…
He promised he was done and yet, here he comes again. Donnie Yen becomes the legendary Wing Chun master Ip Man one last time for the grand finale of the martial arts franchise that has made him an action superstar known the world over, and not just from die hard action fans. After three films (and one spin-off we’d rather forget) of varying quality stemming from a similar template of historical drama peppered with impressive martial set pieces, Ip Man…
