Author Archives: Paul Bramhall

Baby Assassins: Nice Days (2024) Review

Director: Yugo Sakamoto Cast: Akari Takaishi, Saori Izawa, Sosuke Ikematsu, Atsuko Maeda, Atomu Mizuishi  Running Time: 112 min.  By Paul Bramhall Whatever your opinion of director and writer Yugo Sakamoto, what can’t be denied is that few filmmakers are keeping grounded martial arts movies alive quite like he is. In the 4 years spanning 2021 to 2024 his Baby Assassins trilogy has cemented a modern-day iron triangle of action goodness … Continue reading

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Invincible Swordsman (2025) Review

Director: Luo Yi Wei Cast: Kitty Zhang Yuqi, Tim Huang Xiyan, Xuan Lu, Terence Yin, Sammo Hung, Yun Qianqian Running Time: 118 min. By Paul Bramhall When Brigitte Lin was cast as the character Invincible Asia in 1992’s Swordsman 2, few could have predicted the role would become so iconic, leading Lin to spend the last 3 years of her acting career as a mainstay of the new wave wuxia … Continue reading

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Wall to Wall (2025) Review

"Wall to Wall" Netflix Poster

Director: Kim Tae-joon Cast: Kang Ha-neul, Seo Hyun-woo, Yeom Hye-ran, Kim Hyun-Jung, Jeon Jin-Oh, Park Sung-Il, Yoon Jung-Il, Kim Yoon-Jin, Lee Jong-Goo, Na Ho-Sook Running Time: 118 min. By Paul Bramhall Wall to Wall, or 84 Square Metres as its Korean title directly translates to, fits into that distinctly 21st century genre of homeowner anxiety. In Korea such productions usually find themselves set in one of the myriad of towering … Continue reading

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Nocturnal (2025) Review

Director: Kim Jin-Hwang Cast: Ha Jung-Woo, Kim Nam-Gil, Yoo Da-In, Jeong Man-Sik, Im Sung-Jae, Lee Hye-Soo Running Time: 100 min. By Paul Bramhall Nocturnal dares to ask the question, what if Ha Jung-woo hadn’t become a mainstay of Hallmark channel style ‘based on a true story’ movies in the 2020’s, and instead went back to the kind of gritty roles he frequented in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s with … Continue reading

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Ziam (2025) Review

Director: Kulp Kaljareuk Cast: Prin Suparat, Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich, Vayla Wanvayla, Johnny Anfone Running Time: 95 min.  By Paul Bramhall While 2003’s Ong Bak launched a Muay Thai movie boom out of Thailand that lasted for much of the 2000’s, towards the end of the decade filmmakers had turned to increasingly creative ways to portray the powerful martial art onscreen. Fireball gave us Muay Thai blended with basketball, Raging Phoenix introduced … Continue reading

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Ghost Killer (2024) Review

Director: Kensuke Sonomura Cast: Akari Takaishi, Mario Kuroba, Masanori Mimoto, Sora Inoue, Akaka Higashino, Naohiro Kawamoto, Hidenobu Abera, Naoto Kuratomi, Satoshi Kibe Running Time: 105 min. By Paul Bramhall A lone figure in the darkness of a deserted marketplace alley faces off against 3 masked attackers, fending them off set to the rustle of their clothes, the shuffle of their footwork, and a flurry of quick, precise strikes. Within seconds … Continue reading

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Revelations (2025) Review

"Revelations" Netflix Poster

Director: Yeon Sang-ho Cast: Ryu Jun-yeol, Shin Min-jae, Shin Hyun-been, Han Ji-hyun, Kim Bo-Min, Kim Do-Young, Moon Ju-Yeon, Bae Youn-Kyu, Oh Chi-Woon, Woo Kang-Min Running Time: 122 min. By Paul Bramhall The journey of Yeon Sang-ho as a filmmaker has been an interesting one. Gaining attention amongst cineastes in the early 2010’s for his gritty feature length animations like King of Pigs and The Fake, it was his transition to … Continue reading

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Hi-Five (2025) Review

Director: Kang Hyeong-Cheol Cast: Lee Jae-in, Ra Mi-ran, Oh Jung-se, Park Jin-young, Ahn Jae-hong, Kim Hee-won, Shin Gu, Yoo Ah-in, Choi Eun-kyeong, Na Jin-su, Jin Hee-kyung Running Time: 119 min.  By Paul Bramhall Where audiences suffering more from superhero fatigue in 2025 than they were in 2022? It’s a question worth pondering, since the 3 years in-between is how long the Korean superhero comedy Hi-Five has sat on the shelf. … Continue reading

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Escape from the 21st Century (2024) Review

Director: Yang Li Cast: Ruoyun Zhang, Chuxi Zhong, Yang Song, Xiaoliang Wu, Yanmanzi Zhu, Zhengrong Wen Running Time: 98 min.  By Paul Bramhall Keeping up with what is and isn’t allowed in Chinese cinema is always somewhat of a daunting task, with everything from ghosts to cleavage falling victim to strict censorship laws in recent years. While these days the National Radio and Television Administration sits directly under the Central … Continue reading

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Big Deal (2025) Review

Director: Choi Yoon-jin Cast: Yoo Hae-jin, Lee Je-hoon, Byron Mann, Son Hyeon-ju, Choi Young-Joon, Kim Ki-Hae Running Time: 104 min. By Paul Bramhall Watch any Korean movie from the last 30 years, and it won’t be too long before the ubiquitous green soju bottle (usually several of them) makes an appearance, the alcoholic beverage that’s remained the number one best selling hangover inducer in the world for almost as long. … Continue reading

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Match, The (2025) Review

Director: Kim Hyung-Joo Cast: Lee Byung-Hun, Yoo Ah-In, Ko Chang-Seok, Hyun Bong-Sik, Moon Jeong-Hee, Jo Woo-Jin, Kim Kang-Hoon Running Time: 115 min. By Paul Bramhall More than 10 years ago I reviewed a Korean movie called The Divine Move, which at one point I described as consisting of “an abundance of scenes with characters playing Go, and then beating the living daylights out of each other”, the implication being that … Continue reading

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Next Sohee (2022) Review

Director: Jeong Joo-ri Cast: Bae Doo-Na, Kim Si-eun, Jung Hoe-Rin, Kang Hyun-Oh, Park Woo-Young, Park Hee-Eun, Kim Yong-Joon, Sim Hee-Seop, Park Yoon-Hee, Yoon Ga-I Running Time: 135 min. By Paul Bramhall  It can sometimes be a tough job being a Korean cinema fan, with some of the best directors often taking years between the movies they release. Oh Seung-wook made audiences wait 9 years between 2015’s The Shameless and 2024’s Revolver. … Continue reading

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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) Review

Director: Christopher McQuarrie Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Pasha D. Lychnikoff Running Time: 170 min. By Paul Bramhall It’s been almost 30 years since the original Mission: Impossible hit the screens in 1996, and over the course of 8 movies producer and star Tom Cruise has made it his defining statement on action cinema – loud, … Continue reading

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Old Woman with the Knife, The (2025) Review

Director: Min Gyoo-dong Cast: Lee Hye-Young, Kim Sung-Cheol, Yeon Woo-Jin,  Kim Moo-Yul, Kim Kang-Woo, Shin Shi-A Running Time: 122 min.  By Paul Bramhall It’s been at least 5 minutes since a female assassin movie has hit either the big screen or a streaming service, so to ensure any withdrawal symptoms are avoided, in 2025 Korea stepped up to the table with The Old Woman with the Knife. The Korean film … Continue reading

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Hunt the Wicked (2024) Review

Director: Suiqiang Huo Cast: Xie Miao, Andy On, Andrew Lien, Shuang Hong, Sara Aliu, Jing Gu, Rui Han, Jane Wu Running Time: 102 min. By Paul Bramhall The challenge of getting noticed in the Chinese web movie world of giant creature features, ropey sci-fi flicks, and kung-fu throwbacks is a real one, however in the 2020’s Xia Miao has arguably risen to the top of the latter. Titles like Eye … Continue reading

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