Jeffrey Frawley's Profile:
Agreement: 76% of 13 voters agree with Jeffrey Frawley's reviews
Gender: Male
Age: 49
Location: Potomac, Maryland, USA
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Bio: I love Asian film far more than is good for me. While I am very fond of much from Golden Harvest, Shaw Brothers films hold a special attraction, particularly the work of Chang Cheh, with Ti Lung or the Venoms, and Liu Chia-liang, with or without his brothers. I am learning more about South Korean film, but don't yet feel all that well-informed about it. Thai film is entertaining, to say the least, but I do not yet have the critical apparatus to go beyond "That elbow strike was cool!"
Jeffrey Frawley's Ratings & Reviews (20 Max.):
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 |  |  | |  Five Deadly Venoms (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
This is among my most treasured and re-watched DVDs. It deserves top marks for introducing the team of the Venoms, but it is also very worthy standing on its own merits. Before this film, I think Chang Cheh still had one foot in reality, but with this he began to deliver superheroic fantasy--newly invented styles of kung fu which suspend gravity, physics and belief, and pure spectacle. The Venoms' choreography and abilities were displayed to even greater effect in several of the following films, but this must remain a treasured memory to anyone who loves the Venoms.
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| | | |  Running On Karma (see film details)
Drama
I came to this film with extremely high expectations, having read that it was Johnnie To's finest, deepest, most meaningful picture, and Andy Lau's finest acting. It isn't any of that, but it is a very good picture, with good performances by the two leads and surprisingly good prosthetics to transform Lau into "Biggie." Lau has given more nuanced, affecting performances in other roles for To and others, but this is much less smug than many of his performances. Cecilia Cheung is cute, and gives a competent performance, but her character's relationship with Lau isn't really fully developed. When the film is over, it's not clear what Johnnie To meant to convey about the law of karma or the inevitability of fate--questions it seemed he intended to answer.
I liked the picture, and would recommend it, but one's expectations should not be exaggerated.
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| | | |  Shaolin Daredevils (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
This film exists for the individual Venoms to show off their agility, tumbling and weapons handling, and it succeeds marvelously. It's refreshing to see Lu Feng (probably one of the handful of great Shaw Brothers villains) as a kind, goodhearted hero. This is a lesser film than the very best from the Venoms--"Flag of Iron" and "Crippled Avengers" set a very high bar--but it is among my favorite DVDs to put back in the machine and play!
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| | | |  The Spiritual Boxer (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
This is a remarkably high level of accomplishment for Liu Chia Liang/Lau Kar Leung's first film as a director. The cast is very proficient, and the humor transcends language barriers. Wang Yu/Wong Yu/Young Wang Yu was not one of my favorite performers, but he was well cast and gave an engaging performance here.
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| | | |  The Shadow Boxing (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
Perhaps I'm humorless, but this film does very little for me. Wang Yu, Liu Chia Ying, Liu Chia Hui and Lee Hoi Sang have all given better martial arts performances in other films by Liu Chia Liang, and the humor may be aimed specifically at a Cantonese or Hong Kongese sensibility. I prefer Liu Chia Liang when he is more serious. All of this being said, this is still much better than a lot of films by lesser directors and casts: this lineup simply encourages much higher expectations.
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| | | |  The Tai Chi Master [1993] (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
Jet Li and Chin Siu-Ho are very well cast as (respectively) a noble and an ambitious former Shaolin pupils. There's not quite enough of Michelle Yeoh's acrobatics, but this is Jet Li's show from beginning to end. It may be argued that Li demonstrates his own Beijing wushu rather than Tai Chi, but that's what he knows best, and it's beautiful to watch.
| | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! | | AGREE? | READER COMMENTS | AUTHOR | | Y | | Choco |
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| | | |  Trilogy Of Swordsmanship (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
All three directors have done better in their full length work, but this anthology is quite watchable. One might come to it only interested in one of the directors and find out a lot about the others. Each time I have watched it I have viewed it as a whole, but the parts are unconnected, and one can (particularly on DVD) watch each part as an easily appreciated short story taking very little time.
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| | | |  Shaolin Intruders (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
Derek Yee is usually lumped with those HK actors who can look believable with a sword but can't pull off kung fu, but that isn't entirely fair. He looks good here, and Jason Pai Piao looks even better. The story is good, the acting very good, and the cinematography better still. It's a lot of fun!
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| | | |  The Brave Archer (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
This is harder to follow than I would like, but it is worth the effort to follow closely. The cast is huge, the martial arts exciting, and the lead roles, particularly the female ones, better acted than most Hong Kong action films of the period.
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| | | |  Revolver [2005] (see film details)
Crime / Thriller
This is a much more cohesive, understandable film than many have given it credit for. It isn't what viewers may have expected from the director and star--gritty realism and clever quips--but both do a good job.
| | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! | | AGREE? | READER COMMENTS | AUTHOR | | N | Guy Ritchie was trying to go a new route for this underground gangster tale, but it just ended up as Guy Ritchies old trademarks mixed with few new trademarks. The story was messy & I was turned off by that. There has been a lot of mix reviews 4 this pic. | JJ47842 | | N | Wish I could agree, but definitely can't. | Choco |
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| | | |  Three Evil Masters (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
Yuen Tak and Chen Kuan Tai play pupil and master in this enjoyable film. You've probably seen the basic story many times before, but these two actors have much more physical ability than most. Yuen Tak was one of the Seven Little Fortunes with Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Corey Yuen (who has said he had more real world kung fu than most of them) and others. Chen Kuan Tai was the light heavyweight fighting champion in the East Asian Games before he started acting. The fighting skills of the three main villains seem to be rather better than in many competing films. In the final analysis, what's most important is that the film entertains, which it does, most definitely.
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| | | |  Once Upon A Time In China Trilogy [UK SE 3-Disc Set] (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
These are grand adventure stories told about the real, but thoroughly mythologized, Wong Fei Hung, a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine and an exponent of Hung Gar. If you want a truthful account of his life, you won't find it here, or in any other film. If you want an authentic rendition of the Southern Shaolin derived Hung Gar, with low stances and distinctive fist movements, you would do better to look at the films of Liu Chia Liang/Lau Kar Leung, whose father's teacher was Wong Fei Hung's most famous pupil, and who has devoted his career to explicating Hung Gar. Director Yuen Wo Ping's tendencies are toward Chinese Opera, and star Jet Li's training is in Beijing-oriented sport Wushu. What you get in these three films is not the truth, or a faithful depiction of Wong Fei Hung. Instead, it is a terrifically entertaining fantasy, which should delight the viewer.
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| | | |  Yakuza Demon (see film details)
Action/Adventure / Crime
Riki Takeuchi is well cast in what seems to be his only role: the bull headed, loyal Yakuza underling. Almost every plot point is predictable, but I still feel compelled to keep watching. The supporting cast is quite strong for this era and genre of Japanese action cinema.
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| | | |  Two Champions Of Shaolin (see film details)
Martial Arts / Action/Adventure
Lu Feng gives one of his four or five best performances as a villainous super-fighter, and Chin Siu-ho fits in very well with the Venoms. Lo Meng gives another of his impulsive musclemen roles, but I feel more for him than in some other roles. The plot is the standard good Shaolin vs. evil Wutang, with a few twists and good characterizations.
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| | | |  A Better Tomorrow (see film details)
Action/Adventure / Bullet Ballet
I'm sure I have watched this more often than any other modern-era-set Hong Kong film. While it made Chow Yun Fat a superstar, the true star, and the center of the picture, is Ti Lung, in his most middle-aged and most perfectly conscience-driven performance. The acting in "A Better Tomorrow" is so uniformly good that the always great Leslie Cheung may actually turn in one of its least performances. While its sequels are all entertaining, to some degree, none has even a small fraction of the emotional depth of this great film.
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