Hell Hath No Fury is something of a departure for Jesse V. Johnson, but the director once again delivers a tough, kinetic actioner, here aided by newfound narrative heft and twisty moralism. Amongst the DTV faithful, there are a handful of directors that have distinguished…
Raging Fire is fairly staid as a cop-film actioner, but it proves that Donnie Yen, even as he approaches 60, can still deliver. When credits roll on Raging Fire they are accompanied by behind-the-scenes footage of Benny Chan at work directing the film. It’s a…
Escape from Mogadishu is an utterly regressive film that exploits real-life tragedy and trades in offensive screen signifiers. Action movie maestro Ryoo Seung-wan’s latest film, Escape from Mogadishu, is set in 1991 during Somalia’s civil war, and the first signs of trouble for this movie…
Deliver Us from Evil fails in both its attempts at severe drama and action spectacle, proving an equal opportunity offender in the process. If the title of Hong Won-chan’s nihilistic slog of a crime thriller Deliver Us from Evil points to anything, it’s that the…
The Paper Tigers doesn’t pull it all together dramatically or narratively, but its genre reverence is a steadying force. Reverence looms large in Quoc Bao Tran’s The Paper Tigers, not only in theme, but as an operating principle. The Seattle-set story of three former kung…
Here Are the Young Men fixates on its most histrionic narrative beats and hypermasculine conflicts at the expense of its greater strengths. Set in 2003 Ireland, Eoin Macken’s Here Are The Young Men follows Michael (Dean-Charles Chapman), Kearney (Finn Cole), and Rez (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo)…
The Swordsman is hamstrung by weak direction that has no idea how to shoot its otherwise well-choreographed action set pieces. The disgraced and retired warrior at the center of Choi Jae-hoon’s The Swordsman is a cipher. Given the slightest bit of backstory and played by…
Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1 is a one-man spectacle that is hampered by repetitive filmmaking technique and some sloppy editing. Expectations for Crazy Samurai 400 vs. 1 (formerly titled Crazy Samurai Musashi) are pretty clear. Everything surrounding the film — the popular history that informs…
Max Cloud is an utter waste of underground action star Scott Adkins’ talents, and curious DTV aficionados should look elsewhere for their genre thrills. For those with an affinity for the DTV market, Scott Adkins is likely a household name, a bright-shining light in a…
Synchronic does many things well but ultimately fails to must the creative energy its directors typically bring. In Synchronic, the new film from directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, two paramedics, Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan), stumble across a series of bizarre, gruesome…