It is a shame that either Chinese authorities had a word, or producers decided to aim for brownie points by fitting No More Bets out as an anti-fraud public-messaging spot – because Ao Shen’s thriller is otherwise a snappily directed and intriguing entrée to the industry of online deception. Compared with the unrepentant and far more effective dramatic irony of The Wolf of Wall Street, a film this one often resembles, we get unnecessary scenes of government officials reading the riot act to digital scammers, and a patriotic after-credits montage…
Tag: Thrillers
Sakra review – Donnie Yen gets stuck in with fear and swordplay in the Song dynasty
It’s hard to square martial arts main man Donnie Yen’s increasing entanglement with the Chinese Communist party with the concern for China’s ethnic minorities on show in his first directorial effort for 20 years. Playing Qiao Feng, top dog of the ragamuffin Beggars’ Gang during the Song dynasty, he finds out that his parents were in fact hairy Khitan nomads from the steppes. With the scenes of Khitan refugees being mistreated by callous military goons, you can’t help but think of the plight of the Uyghurs. Things don’t look good…
Lost in the Stars review – Chinese doppelganger twist-a-thon is too fun to resist
This mystery drama twist-a-thon from China was a huge hit on home turf recently (far outperforming the latest Indiana Jones feature) and has been picked up for distribution in the UK and the US. Although the 180-degree plot pivots start to get a little ridiculous by the end, the script (credited to writer-producer Chen Sicheng, Shuyi Gu and Yixiong Yin) zips along with such gleeful mischievousness that the ride is too fun to resist. Intriguingly, it is supposedly based on a 1990 Russian film called A Trap for Lonely Man,…
Everything Under Control review – endearing comedy caper from Hong Kong
Hoping to sustain a recent mini-resurgence of Hong Kong films through to lunar new year, Ying Chi-wen’s second feature is a silly, initially laboured but increasingly endearing comedy mashup. A remake of 2021 Taiwanese gangster film Treat or Trick, which is itself a do-over of 2004 Korean horror-comedy To Catch a Virgin Ghost, it manages to hit virtually every branch on the genre tree on the way down: Bad Boys buddy action comedy, dead wet girl Asian horror, knockabout Beijing opera farce, wuxia parody. Yau Shing (Hong Kong singer Hins…