All posts tagged richie jen

BODIES AT REST (2019) short review

Renny Harlin’s career second wind in China continues: after the success of the passable Jackie Chan vehicle Skiptrace, and the costly flop of the fantasy clunker Legend of the Ancient Sword, here comes Bodies at Rest, in which a Hong Kong public morgue is invaded on Christmas eve by three masked and armed criminals (Richie Jen, Carlos Chan and Feng Jiayi). They are trying to retrieve a incriminating bullet from the body of a woman (the striking Clara Lee, only glimpsed in flashbacks), but Nick Chan (Nick Cheung), the forensic pathologist on duty, and his Mainland intern Lynn Qiao (Yang Zi) are determined not to let them have their way. This is the kind of film that Hollywood churned out relentlessly in the nineties (Renny Harlin’s heyday, of course): a sub-Die Hard game of cat-and-mouse pitting a resourceful everyman against ruthless criminals in a closed location. There’s even references to John McTiernan’s seminal actioner (of which Harlin directed the sequel, of course): bare body parts on broken glass, air duct escape… It’s a brisk and reasonably entertaining 90 minutes, bolstered by charismatic turns from Nick Cheung (not stretching in any way), Richie Jen (playing efficiently against type) and Yang Zi (more than holding her own next to the two veterans), some welcome flashes of dark humor, and brutal, gripping fight scenes. Yet the film runs of out steam in the final twenty minutes, weighted with too many twists, turns and reversals for such a thin plot and characters, as well as a rote ending. **1/2

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by LP Hugo on October 2, 2019 • Permalink

Posted in Film Reviews

Tagged clara lee, nick cheung, renny harlin, richie jen, yang zi

Posted by LP Hugo on October 2, 2019

https://asianfilmstrike.com/2019/10/02/bodies-at-rest-2019-short-review/

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE (2015) short review

Richie Jen and Andy Luo’s All You Need Is Love was the first – and better – of the two Taiwanese romances starring Shu Qi that were released in 2015, the other being the thudding The Last Women Standing. Here she plays Fen, a haughty travel writer visiting Penghu, a sun-drenched archipelago in which she’s booked a Bed & Breakfast owned by Bu (Richie Jen) and his stern father (Ti Lung). Things get off to a bad start as the B&B is much more rustic than what she expected, and her snobbish behavior clashes with Bu’s simple ways. But when her luggage and passport get lost at sea, she has no choice but to bide her time at the B&B, where she slowly gets won over by Bu and the goofy villagers of Penghu. All You Need Is Love basically ticks off all the most common romantic comedy tropes, opposing money and love, city and country, commitment and selfishness, living in the past and seizing the day, all of it against a dreamy touristic backdrop adorned with cute kids and goofy supporting characters. That it all entertains charmingly rather than annoy is down to Shu Qi and Richie Jen’s winning chemistry, the former having a blast as a screechy snob who slowly gets thawed, and the latter too old to be a goofy romantic lead but unassumingly appealing nevertheless. There’s also a touching supporting turn from the great Ti Lung as a steely father who’s also a loving widower; though underdeveloped, it’s a nice subplot that balances out more unfortunate plot turns, like a stupid reality show Bu takes part in. All in all a warm, fuzzy and forgettable little romance. **1/2

SILVER HAWK (2004) review

Following her rise to international fame thanks to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Michelle Yeoh founded Mythical Films with her then-companion Thomas Chung, with an eye towards giving herself tailor-made roles in films with an international ambition. The venture led to Peter Pau’s The Touch, a sporadically enjoyable Indiana Jones-wannabe that was successful in China but not anywhere else, and to Silver Hawk, which replicated The Touch’s pattern of success. Both films are vanity projects of sorts for Yeoh, as she cast herself first as a fearless adventurer then as a fearless super-heroine, in films that glorified the grace of her moves and the flawlessness of her skin. Not that there’s anything wrong with the idea of a film glorifying Michelle Yeoh. One of the most beautiful actresses in the world, a skillfull martial artists of unparalleled grace in action, but also a powerful dramatic actress (as evidenced in films like the aforementioned Ang Lee film and Far North, among many others), Yeoh is the very definition of a true movie star. But the cold, hard truth is that Silver Hawk is as misguided a star vehicle as it gets.

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