A fast-paced, beautifully executed film, The Rebel works hard at being an epic martial arts picture set in 1920's French-occupied Vietnam. While that may sound like a bit much, director Truc Charlie Nguyen does a formidable job creating a plausible scenario with some awesome fighting sequences. While not quite epic, the film is spot on as an action thriller.
Super-spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has retired from active duty to trains new IMF agents. But he is called back into action to confront the toughest villain he's ever faced - Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an international weapons and information provider with no remorse and no conscience. Hunt assembles his team - his old friend Luther Strickell (Ving Rhames), transportation expert Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), and background operative Zhen (Maggie Q), to rescue one of his very own trainees, Lindsey (Keri Russell) who was kidnapped while on a surveillance detail of Davian.
There's no rule against rock anthems from the 1970s in the soundtrack for a movie about a medieval jousting champion, but if you're going to attempt such jarring anachronisms, you'd better establish acceptable ground rules. Writer-director Brian Helgeland does precisely that in A Knight's Tale and pulls off this trick with such giddy aplomb that you can't help but play along.
The good news is, Dr. Watson does get married. The bad news is, Sherlock Holmes throws his bride off a moving train. Actually, there's even worse news than that--but all will be explained in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the sequel to Guy Ritchie's 2009 hit. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return to their roles as Holmes and Watson, as the duo take on the world's greatest criminal mind, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), a man whose latest scheme has global implications.
In a young Republic of China, where greedy warlords fuel a period of war and strife, Hou Jie (Andy Lau) arrogantly shows no mercy to his enemies seeking refuge with the benign and compassionate Shaolin monks. After unscrupulously killing a wounded enemy, Hou Jie pays a terrible price for his actions and is forced to seek refuge in the same Shaolin Monastery her blatantly disrespected. Hou Jie's traitorous second-in-command Cao Man (Nicholas Tse) continues where the once-warlord left off, betraying his country and his own people.
Master swordplay, epic battles and stunning martial arts action kick into high gear in this fantasical adventure set in ancient Korea. 927 A.D. The Killer-Blade Army has toppled the ruling dynasty, plunging the kingdom into chaos. The only remaining heir, Prince Jung-Hyun (Lee Seo Jin) is living in exile, unaware of his family's dark fate. Still loyal to the dynasty, the beautiful and deadly warrior Soha (Yoon Soy) sets out to find Jung-Hyun and guide him to become the great leader he was born to be.
While action legend Jackie Chan's career continues to wane in the United States, he has in recent years enjoyed a revival in his native Hong Kong, and the period-action comedy Little Big Soldier is perhaps the best of those efforts. Set during China's Era of Warring States (roughly 475-221 BC), the story centers on Chan as a farmer-turned-soldier who survives a bloody battle with a valuable prize--a wounded general (Wang Leehom) from the opposing army.
Two dynasties at war. Two men on a mission. Revenge, redemption and a story of family combines with heart-pounding action to make War Of The Arrows the highest-grossing epic in Korean cinema. 1623: the 15th year of King Gwanghaegun's reign. The King's loyal servant and legendary archer, General Choi Pyong-ryang, is framed for treason and executed. His entire household meets the same tragic fate, but his young son and daughter, Nam-yi and Ja-in, escape to the home of their father's longtime friend. The brother and sister take refuge under Kim's wing and are raised as his own.
Use a computer, go to jail. The terms of Stanley Jobson's parole are clear. Yet a $10-million payday awaits the superhacker if he takes on a job masterminded by a charismatic covert agent - the daring electronic theft of a government slush fund. John Travolta is the mastermind, Hugh Jackman is the hacker and Halle Berry and Don Cheadle co-star in this volatile high-tech thriller directed by Dominic Sena (Gone in 60 Seconds) and produced by Joel Silver (The Matrix) and Jonathan D. Krane (Face/Off). Log on, tap in, kick back for cyber-edge action and suspense.
It's not necessary to see the first Swordsman before you see Swordsman II--though some of the characters are the same, the cast is almost completely different. Into the thick of a clan feud in long-ago China comes young swordsman Ling (Jet Li), who has a romantic attachment to the leader of one side of the feud (Rosamund Kwan). However, on the other side is an evil sorcerer, Asia the Invincible (Brigitte Lin), who has found a magical scroll that will give the user formidable powers if the user castrates himself.
