Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In

I miss the old Hong Kong films! And this brings back that era!

Awesome nostalgic actioner with old and new martial arts stars. To anyone not much familiar with HK action, imagine a big-budgeted 80s Walter Hill flick, but made in Hong Kong. Koo and Hung brawl is surely one of 2024's top moments. Set pieces cleverly balance physical stunts -- warriors flying, walking on walls, running wild in dark corridors -- and CGI touches, mostly used to recreate Kowloon with the replica sets. And what a climax, with the four young dudes fighting the invincible psycho.

Even if the camera stays a bit too close in action scenes, this is some proper stuff! Great plot to go with the action too.

When I saw the One Piece Netflix show I thought to myself "I mean, they didn't even try that hard, but I guess you couldn't translate that kind of action-drama into live actio anyhow." Guess I was wrong. Is a little long, but positively crazy and China-cheesy. And delivers the right amount of Hong Kong nostalgia.

Cyclone: "Don't cause trouble in the Walled City."

The first half is great, I really loved it. However, the second half, and the end, are not good, with a boring section and a weird pacing. It felt rushed and badly written. Too bad!

This was a fun gangster martial arts film that was a little too ridiculous to be truly great and the overuse of GCI and green screen also hampered my enjoyment.