Young and Dangerous: Reloaded 古惑仔：江湖新秩序

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 陳翊恆 Daniel Chan

Casted by:

羅仲謙 Him Law as 陳浩南 Nan

沈震軒 Sammy Sum as 譚坤 Kun

梁烈唯 Oscar Leung as 趙山河 Ho

黃貫中 Paul Wong as 鄧智勇 Brother B

胡然 Michelle Hu as 林超婷 Lorraine

單立文 Pal Sinn as 蔣天生 Shang

梁敏儀 Winnie Leung as Anna

莊思敏 Jacquelin Ch'ng as 林淑芬 Fan
何浩文 Dominic Ho as 梁二 Yi

何韻詩 Denise Ho as 十三妹 13mui

 Story: 

Nan, Ho, Yi & Pei killed YaoWang and was being chased down by Kun. To avoid Kun's attack, 4 of them transferred under Brother B's team. Kun tackled Hung Heng's leader, Shang's woman Anna to assassinate Shang in a locker room, the assassination was blame on Brother B and he was captured by Hung Heng for punishment but he escaped and was assassinate by Kun at the jetty.

Nan was away with his girlfriend, Lorraine, when Brother B was killed. Nan went back and invited Shang's elder brother Yang back to rules Hung Heng, Kun try to fight back but in the end was burned to death by other gangster.  

 L² Scored: 7/10 

L² Comment: 

Its been a long time since i last watched Ekin Cheng's version of Young & Dangerous, kinda missed this series of movie. The new batch of gangsters are mostly from TVB and of coz their acting skill is not bad, but the girls part need to improve more. Hopefully there will be sequel on this :)

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 西游·降魔篇

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 周星馳 Stephen Chow

Casted by:

文章 Wen Zhang as 陳玄奘 Tang Sang Zhang

舒淇 Shu Qi as 段小姐 Duan

黄渤 Huang Bo as 猴妖 Sun WuKong

羅志祥 Show Luo as 空虛公子 Prince Important

李尚正 Lee Sheung Jin as 水妖 Sand Monk

陳炳強 Chen Bing Qiang as 豬妖 KL Hog

 Story: 

The movie takes place before Tang Sanzang got his disciples and embarked on the Journey to the West.

A young village girl plays by the river and her father frightens her by pretending to be a fish demon, although he is then killed by a mysterious underwater creature. A Taoist priest kills a giant manta ray and insists the demon is dead. Buddhist demon hunter Sanzang appears to warn the animal is not the true demon but is violently ignored. The demon reemerges and kills a number of villagers but Sanzang is able to beach the fish-like demon, which turns into a man. Sanzang then opens a book of nursery rhymes and begins to sing to the man. The man feels harassed and attacks Sanzang but another demon hunter, Duan appears and captures him in her cloth, turning him into a puppet. Sanzang reveals to Duan that his master taught him a humanist approach and to use nursery rhymes to coax goodness out of demons, a tactic Duan scoffs at. Disillusioned, Sanzang meets back up with his master and bemoans his lack of capabilities in comparison to more aggressive demon-hunters such as Duan. His master reaffirms his philosophy of trying to reform evil demons and sends him off again, telling him to find "enlightenment."

A couple enters an empty restaurant but the chef reveals himself to be a pig demon and kills them. Sanzang comes to the same restaurant, this time apparently filled with people. However, Sanzang sees through the illusion and recognizes them as reanimated corpses of the demon's victims, as well as the demon's iconic nine-pronged weapon. Sanzang gets into a battle with one of the corpses but Duan arrives and destroys all of them. Duan then battles the demon. In the ensuing battle, the building collapses and Sanzang and Duan retreat as the demon is momentarily injured. Duan then develops a strong limerence towards Sanzang after being impressed by his selfless ideals. She wishes to kiss him, but he quickly flees, not wishing to deal with romantic love in his quest for nirvana.

Sanzang's master advises him to tame the Monkey King demon Sun Wukong (trapped by Buddha) to subdue the pig demon. That night, he is captured by a gang that had also subdued Duan. It is later revealed to be a ploy orchestrated by Duan to trick Sanzang into having sex. After Sanzang rejects her again, she has him imprisoned. The pig demon reappears and injures Duan but is chased off by a trio of rivaling demon-hunters. Duan views Sanzang's concern for her injuries as a romantic attraction. After Sanzang refuses her advances again, she destroys his book of nursery rhymes and he promptly leaves.

After days of traveling, Sanzang finally discovers the hole where Monkey King was trapped in for five-hundred years. Monkey King informs him to use a dancer under the full moon as bait. Duan appears and volunteers to dance. The pig demon appears and falls into Monkey King's hole, turning into a miniature pig, which Duan turns into a puppet. Duan then gives both the fish and pig puppets to Sanzang and offers her golden ringed weapon as an engagement band, but he rejects her again. She leaves after returning his nursery rhyme book, which she had pieced back together, although at random due to being bad at reading.

Monkey King successfully tricks Sanzang into removing the seal on his prison. The three demon hunters appear to catch Monkey King but he kills them all after a brutal fight. Injured, Sanzang then begins to pray to Buddha, and in retaliation Monkey King rips the hair from his head. Duan arrives to save Sanzang, enraged and attacks but the Monkey King mortally injures her. Sanzang finally tells Duan he loves her. Monkey King proceeds to destroy her body, but Sanzang is able to summon Buddha, when it is revealed that Duan accidentally reassembled the words of his book into those of the Buddha Sutra. Buddha, in vast form, defeats Monkey King with the palm of his hand. Sanzang then places Duan's golden ring atop Monkey King as his iconic restrictive headband.

Sanzang tells his master that his suffering due to Duan's loss has helped him to enlightenment. Sanzang is then instructed to journey west(India) for the Buddhist sutras of Leiyin Temple, and it is shown that the Water Demon, Pig Demon, and Monkey King have been tamed and turned into humans named, respectively, Sandy, Pigsy, and Sun Wukong. As they hike across the desert, Sanzang looks across the sand and sees an image of Duan.

 L² Scored: 6.5/10 

L² Comment:

I understand that Stephen Chow wanna make his own version of Journey To The West, but this is very much different from the original fiction. And from the movie, we can see that Stephen created some characters which are similar from his old Journey to the West movie back in 1994. Wen Zhang hairstyle and dressing is exactly the same as per his old wukong character, ShuQi in the other hand portrait the similar character like Athena Chu has acted before. Not a big fans of this movie, but no doubt the graphic effect is not bad~ but will not consider to watch it again~  

I Love Hong Kong 2013 - 2013我愛HK恭囍發財

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 鍾澍佳 Zhong Shu Kai

Casted by:

黃宗澤 Bosco Wong as 宋池雄 Xiong

徐子珊 Kate Tsui as 美洋洋 Yang

譚詠麟 Alan Tam as 宋池雄 Xiong

葉玉卿 Veronica Yip as 美洋洋 Yang

謝天華 Michael Tse as 夏石森San

陳百祥 Natalis Chan as 夏石森 San

馮淬帆 Stanley Fung as 黎源 Yun

鄭欣宜 Joyce Cheng as 朱玉圓 Yuk

曾志偉 Eric Tsang as 天使 Angel

 Story:

Xiong came to Hong Kong and look for his friend San who then helped him to find a job. The honest Xiong met rich girl Yang and managed to win over her heart, but he always help others people and even helps his boss Yun to buy the coffee shop and sacrifice their migrate planning. 

San in another hand is getting worst and in the end wanna force Xiong to sell off his coffee shop to him. But an angel appeared and told Xiong that he was actually a good man and deserved a better life than suicide.

 L² Scored: 6.5/10

L² Comment: 

Same like the previous I Love HK, most of the actors & actresses are from TVB. Its happy to see that they have chances to go on big screen which not all the celebrities have the chance. Overall the storyline is ok, a bit predictable, but its still ok~ I watched this old cny movie because of the cny, or else, this wont be in my "to-watch-list"~

The Grandmaster 一代宗師

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 王家卫 Wong Kar Wai

Casted by:

梁朝偉 Tony Leung as 葉問 Ip Man

章子怡 Zhang Ziyi as 宮若梅 / 宮二 Gong Er

張震 Zhang Zheng as 一线天 Yi Xian Tian

赵本山 Zhao Ben Shan as 丁连山 Ding Lian Shan

張晉 Zhang Jin as 馬得月 / 馬三 Ma San

宋慧喬 Song Hye-Kyo as 張永成 Zhang Yong Cheng

 Story: 

The film chronicles the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man from the 1930s in Foshan, his flight to Hong Kong after the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the events leading to his death.

The movie begins with Ip Man reflecting on martial arts, and then cuts to a scene of a fight under the rain between Ip and a dozen combatants. Ip Man wins, and experiences flashbacks of his life, from his early training at the age of seven to his induction into martial arts by his master Chan Wah-shun, and his marriage to his wife Cheung Wing-sing.

Ip Man's peaceful existence is threatened by the arrival of Gong Yutian, the Wudang Boxing martial arts grandmaster from northern China, who announces that he has already retired and has appointed Ma San as his heir in the North. He then concedes that the South should have its own heir. A flurry of discussions and fights erupt as various masters attempt to challenge Gong, but they are all barred by Ma San. As the Southern masters are deliberating on a representative, Gong Yutian's daughter Gong Er arrives and she tries to convince her father not to continue the fight, as she feels they are all unworthy. Meanwhile, the Southern masters decide on Ip Man to represent them, and Ip proceeds to be tested by three Southern masters before he challenges Gong Yutian. However, the "fight" between Ip and Gong turns out to be actually an exchange of philosophical ideas. Gong declares Ip the winner and returns to northern China. However, Gong Er sets out to regain her family's honour by challenging Ip Man, and they agree that if anything breaks, Ip loses. "Kung Fu is about precision", so whoever breaks a piece of furniture during the fight will be the loser. An intense fight breaks out between Ip Man and Gong Er, which concludes with victory for Gong because Ip broke a step at the very end. Ip and Gong then part on friendly terms, with Ip saying he wants a rematch.

Ip Man and Gong Er keep in contact after parting ways by exchanging letters, and Ip intends to bring his family with him to northern China, but his plans are disrupted by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938. During the war, Ip Man and his family descend into poverty and he loses his two daughters due to starvation. In the meantime, in northern China, Ma San becomes a hanjian and ends up killing Gong Yutian. When Gong Er returns, she confronts her elders for forsaking her father but they tell her that her father's final wish was for her to be happy and not to seek vengeance. Gong Er refuses to accept that, and she vows to never teach, marry or have children her entire life, in order to choose the path of vengeance.

Ip Man moves to Hong Kong in the hope of starting a career as a martial arts teacher, but ends up facing all sorts of challenges because there were also numerous other martial arts masters. He defeats them soundly and earns a reputation. He meets Gong Er again on Chinese New Year's Eve 1950 and asks her for a contest one more time while implying that she should start rebuilding her martial art school. But Gong Er refuses, stating that many martial arts disappeared in the course of history; and that hers would not be the only one. A flashback 10 years earlier shows a confrontation between Gong Er and Ma San at a train station on Chinese New Year's Eve 1940, and Gong kills Ma after a brutal and intense fight. However, Gong herself is heavily injured and loses her desire to use martial art.

The film then fast-forwards to 1952, when Ip Man and Gong Er meet each other for the last time. Gong confesses to Ip that she has had romantic feelings for him right from the beginning. She dies shortly after. Ip explains in a voice over that in the fight with Ma San, Gong was injured so badly she turned to opium for the pain and this was her downfall. The final scenes offer a visual montage as Ip Man's school flourishes, including a statement that Ip made Wing Chun popular worldwide and his most famous student was Bruce Lee. Off screen, it is stated that Ip Man died in 1972.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment: 

I watched this because of Ziyi Zhang, she won so many awards out from this movie, but is she really that good? I'm a bit doubt about it... it was nothing special that what she did in "House of Flying Daggers", how can the judges be so stupid and let her won as much as 12 Best Actress? Its kinda bullshit to me...

Story wise is so so... this is not the first Ip Man movie, so basically everybody knows a bit here and there... Not really fancy Wong Kar Wai's action movie, it makes all those fighters look so sissy when they fight, yuck!

Hotel Deluxe 百星酒店

Released Year: 2013

Directed by  谷德昭 Vincent Koo

Casted by:

毛舜筠 Teresa Mo as 古黛 Doi

吳君如 Sandra Ng as 田蜜桃 Tou

鄭中基 Ronald Cheng as 包定 Ding

薛凱琪 Fiona Sit as 慕容寶寶 Bobo

黃百鳴 Raymond Wong as 陳可新 Xin

杜汶澤 Chapman To as 彭俊 Jun

于波 Yu Bo as 雷勁 Jing

 Story:

 Doi was employed to maintain a hotel's in a 5 stars grade and he experienced with few staffs, Tou a cleaner who wants everything clean; Ding an assistant manager who always not serious; Jun a receptionist who always wanted to be in a movie. 

They mistaken a beggar as a hotel's commenter and put the real one into a helper in the hotel. They also encounter Bobo's marriage at the hotel with his uncle Xin on rejection. In the end they manage everything also able to maintain the hotel as a deluxe hotel.

 L² Scored: 3.5/10

L² Comment:

Can feel that they wanted to use a lot of super stars to show in this movie, but how laugh-able is this movie? Not really, as i feel most of the parts are quite boring and stupid instead... Won't consider to watch it again...

Rigor Mortis 殭屍 2013

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 麥浚龍 Juno Mak

Casted by:

錢小豪 Chin Siu Ho as 錢小豪 Ho

陳友 Anthony Chan as 阿友 Yao

鮑起靜 Pao Hei Jing as 梅姨 Mui

惠英紅 Kara Hui as 楊鳳 Feng

吳耀漢 Richard Wu as 冬叔 Dong

 Story: 

 Ho moved into an old building and into a haunted unit which a twins sisters kill a rapist (husband of Feng) and suicide. The twins' spirit wanted to have Ho as replacement but couldn't make it after Yao safe him. In another hand, old couple Mui & Dong live in the same building too and Dong slip and fall from staircase and cause the bad ghost master to cheat Mui and turn Dong into a living dead.

The twins' spirit went into Dong's corpse and try to fight against Yao & Ho, but luckily they were defeated in the end. Everything changed and nothing seems to be happened before...

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

Its been such a long time that HK havent come out with any chinese vampire movie ever since Lam Zheng Ying passed away. This movie was originally written for Ricky Hui, but Ricky passed away before the script even finish, therefore, Ho as Zheng Ying & Ricky old partner was chosen to be the main actor.

Out of Inferno 逃出生天

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 彭順 Danny Pang & 彭發 Oxide Pang

Casted by:

古天樂  Louis Koo as 阿強 Keong

劉青雲 Sean Lau as 大軍 Tai Kwan

李心潔 Angelica Lee as 思樂 Si Lok

陳思誠 Chen Si Cheng as 李健樂 Kin Lok

 Story:

The film stars two estranged brothers in Guangzhou, Tai-Kwan and Keung, who had worked as firefighters. The last time they spoke with one another was during the funeral of their father, four years before the events of the film. Keung, now retired from firefighting, operates a fire protection systems company. In the beginning of the film, he holds a celebration of the opening of the office of his company. Meanwhile, Tai-Kwan's wife, Si-lok, is seeing a gynaecologist. The company and the doctor are in the same building. A fire breaks out in the basement and travels upwards. Tai-Kwan, who submits his resignation before the fire breaks out, is sent in his unit to fight the fire. Keung finds Si-lok and struggles to rescue her.

 L² Scored: 6/10 

L² Comment:

 No doubt the graphic, the picture is nice... but kinda bit disappointed to watch this movie as i am always a big fans of the Pang's brother... But this movie is not that good... lack of excitement of the storyline, and the characters are not that strong too in each presenter. Overall this movie is just so so...

Kick Ass Girls 爆3俏嬌娃

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 卓韵芝 Vincci Cheuk

Casted by:

周秀娜 Chrissie Chau as 寶 Bo

盧頌之 Dada Lo as Miu

 余曉彤 Hidy Yu as TT

卓韵芝 Vincci Cheuk as Amy

童冰玉 Chris Tong as 諸葛 ZhuGe

 Story:

 Bo together with TT & Miu was employed by mysterious ZhuGe to Malaysia, they were accompany by the Gothic Amy. But actually the 3 girls were sold by ZhuGe to fight in an underground casino. 3 of them worked together and finally understand the importance of friendship.

 L² Scored: 5.5/10

L² Comment:

If Sammi Cheng didn't sing the theme song of this B class movie, i wouldn't even pay a notice on it. But after i watched the whole movie, i was kinda impressed too... At least Vincci knows her B class movie needs a lot of good looking people or else no one will ever watch it. The best that is, Vincci knows Sammi surely will intro this movie to her fans as well, a good cheap way to promote isn't it?