RV: Resurrected Victims is a supernatural South Korean drama and thriller. It convinces with a creative story line, sinister atmosphere and intriguing characters. The film however suffers from being too melodramatic and lacking realism.

The movie tells the story of a young prosecutor whose mother was killed in an armed robbery seven years ago. The prosecutor has become a bitter man who often recommends the death penalty instead of believing in redemption. One day, his sister calls him to tell that their deceased mother has come back home. The prosecutor hurries home in disbelief and gets attacked by his own mother. He learns that she is a resurrected victim that wants to avenge her own death. The prosecutor fails to understand why his mother attacked him in the first place. He starts digging in his own past in order to clear his name and give his mother peace of mind.

On the positive side, the unusual story line is filled with unpredictable twists and turns that keep the movie interesting from start to finish. The characters also have certain depth as we learn more about the prosecutor's past and the mother's motivations. The film has an eerie and uneasy atmosphere between the mystery and horror genres even though the movie remains a supernatural crime investigation at heart.

However, the movie has a somewhat dull pace in the middle section. The opening sequence is memorable and the conclusion is very emotional but everything in between has considerable lengths. The movie is also highly emotional and at times quite melodramatic. It attempts to be a tearjerker but goes a little bit overboard at times which can actually be observed in many Korean movies. The fact that the movie tries to connect human emotions with supernatural spirits sometimes seems like a contradiction. It's an unusual approach which makes it difficult to find an emotional connection to the story, especially since the mother turns out being not the only resurrected victim in the story.

If you like supernatural dramas with surprising stoy lines, you should certainly watch this movie. If you don't like emotional movies with philosphical depth, you might find that film annoying. RV: Resurrected Victims has a quite unique style but attempts to accomplish too many things at once in my opinion. It was entertaining to watch but hard to digest. I don't regret watching it at all but wouldn't watch it again.

The Empty Hands is a slow-paced film about an unlucky young woman who inherits the karate dojo of her deceased father that she needs to share with a former student who has just come out of prison.

The story features profound characters, the diversified story is filled wth promising ideas and the few fighting scenes are entertaining. The protagonist has lost her passion for karate after losing a fight in a tournament as a child, doesn't get along with her stubborn father before his death and has a complicated romantic relationship with a local radio celebrity who hides her from his wife and family. The student that inherits fifty-one percent of the karate dojo had ties with a crime syndicate but decided to beat his boss and two of its associates to pulp when they were planning on raping an innocent teenage girl which led to his prison sentence. When they inherit the dojo, their lifestyles, opinions and tempers clash. The former student wants to improve the dojo's reputation and save its legacy while the daughter wants to get rid of it and make it a real estate project. Since she only owns forty-nine percent of the dojo, she initially has to accept her partner's decision to continue to give karate classes but they soon make a deal: if the daughter accepts to take part in another tournament and manages to be still standing at the end of the fight, her partner is willing to retreat and give the entire property to her. The daughter accepts and the fight in the tournament is indeed the film's climax and highlight.

The biggest downside of the movie is its dull pace despite an already short running time. Static camera work, slow movements by the actresses and actors and repetitive settings try to give the film an arthouse style but end up dragging it down. The movie is sometimes advertised as an action film but it's actually a drama. The film sometimes doesn't live up to its potential as several story lines remain incomplete such as the fate of the radio celebrity. The movie only features two fighting sequences while an intriguing third one only happens off screen. The fate of a Japanese immigrant to Hongkong and later on China would have deserved a more complex story line as well.

The Empty Hands is worth to be watched if you are looking for a slow-paced drama with interesting characters. If you are intrigued by the context of a karate dojo or the fate of Japanese immigrants in China, you will find this movie boring. In the end, The Empty Hands has a quite unique style but almost as many downsides as positive elements. I don't regret watching it at all but wouldn't watch it again anytime soon.

Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings is quite different from the other two entries about the modest, intellectual and clever Tang Dynasty investigator. While the first movie relies on its mysterious atmosphere and investigative techniques and the second film explores the detective's early career, the third movie is set between the two and is best described as an intrigue with supernatural elements. This is a very entertaining fantasy movie with dynamic martial arts elements and colourful costumes and settings but it doesn't have much depth, doesn't feature a surprising plot and doesn't rely on investigative techniques. Some people might therefore consider this the weakest entry in the franchise thus far. However, I have a different opinion. If you are ready to accept this movie as a wu xia fantasy film inspired by classic Hongkong cinema of the late eighties with contemporary images and sounds, you will experience a most entertaining blockbuster that doesn't only equal contemporary Hollywood fantasy movies but also beats most of those thanks to its intriguing historical references.

The title of the movie is somewhat misleading. The four heavenly kings are only statues that are referenced in a note and then shown in one scene mid-way through the plot that lasts for about five minutes. They are never mentioned again afterwards and have no significant influence on the story. Detective Dee and the Dragon Taming Mace would have been a much more appropriate title.

The story is set between Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon and Detective Dee: The Mystery of the Phantom Flame. Emperor Gaozong appoints Di Renjie to head the Department of Justice and gives him the mysterious, powerful and prestigious Dragon Taming Mace. Empress Wu disapproves of this as she realizes that Detective Dee might be her biggest obstacle on her ambitious quest for ultimate authority. She orders Di Renjie's sworn brother Yuchi Zhenjin to steal the mace and discredit her opponent. She hires a group of sorcerers to see the plan through and promises to not assassinate Di Renjie and his family. Di Renjie has however realized that the Empress wants to steal the mace from him and starts to investigate her motivations. He quickly realizes that she is manipulated by a group of discredited Indian sorcerers who want to take revenge for having been used and abused by Tang Dynasty officials. Di Renjie has to rely on his colleagues, a renegade criminal and a Buddhist monk to save the empire.

The movie convinces with a steady pace and introduces the main plot right from the first scene. The film keeps this pace from start to finish and remains highly entertaining despite a running time over two hours. The most important characters are introduced quickly and coherently. The settings in old Tang Dynasty look incredible even though they appear to be a little bit too extravagant, polished and shiny. The visual special effects are astonishing and show a fascinating world between fantasy and history. The martial arts sequences are creative, dynamic and inspiring. The intrigues at the court are interesting to follow even though they don't offer anything new to the formula. The film's showdown is quite intense and of epic proportions in the key of something you would expect from The Lord of the Rings and the likes.

On the negative side, the plot is somewhat predictable and lacks the wit, precision and creativity of previous installments. The investigative techniques that characterized the first two films of the franchise are certainly lacking in this movie. Still, Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings is such a colorful, dynamic and imaginative movie that these minor flaws don't drag the film down.

Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings might be a cinematic blockbuster that is lacking depth and precision from time to time but it's the perfect film to escape your everyday life and explore a fascinating world between fantasy and history. You might feel disappointed if you are looking for a profound drama or clever thriller but you will explore a dreamy martial movie and an entertaining fantasy flick for sure. If you take this film for what it is without comparing it too much to the style of the previous two installments, you will get your money's worth while watching this Chinese blockbuster at your local cinema or at home.

Tomie: The Final Chapter - Forbidden Fruit was supposed to be the last film in the franchise about the evil girl that cannot die. As we speak, four more movies have been made but it might have been a good idea to actually end the franchise on a solid note with this film. The movie isn't as gripping as Tomie: Replay and as atmospheric as the first Tomie four years earlier but it's clearly an improvement over the unbalanced Tomie: Rebirth or the compilation of low-budget television episodes released under the title Tomie: Another Face.

The story revolves around a high school student called Tomie who is bullied by three other girls. Her mother died ten years ago. Her father seems to be as gloomy, lonesome and unhappy as herself. One day, the high school student meets a girl of her age who is also called Tomie but who is completely different from her. She seems to be courageous, quirky and self-confident. The two quickly become friends and even start developing a romantic interest in one another. However, the extroverted Tomie deceives her friend as she is actually interested in her friend's father and wants to get rid of his daughter. She reveals to the old man that she was in love with him twenty-five years ago but ended up being killed by one of their friends. She wants to rekindle her love for the old man and soon manipulates him and his daughter. The father soon must make the difficult choice to either get rid of his daughter or of the obsessive intruder.

This film is much more a drama with mild horror elements rather than a horror movie with mild drama elements. This movie isn't scary but it convinces with the gloomiest atmosphere in the franchise up to this point. The film starts slowly as most of the other entries but steadily quickens up the pace and ends on a surprising note. There are several memorable scenes like Tomie being nursed as a monstrous baby reminding of Eraserhead and the sinister showdown in the ice factory. The story is quite unpredictable and certainly one of the strongest plots in the franchise. The actresses and actors are more dynamic, emotional and unique than in some of the predecessors. The manipulative nature of the antagonist becomes most obvious in this film. The outcast protagonist however is certainly a character the audience can root for.

I would recommend this movie to fans of the franchise and to anyone who likes supernatural dramas with a gloomy atmosphere. Tomie: The Final Chapter - Forbidden Fruit would have concluded the movie franchise on a solid note. Still, there isn't one single film that fully lives up to the potential of the original manga series.

A Cool Fish is an action-comedy movie with a dramatic twist. It tells several different stories that are all linked. We follow two friends and thugs who want to rob a bank but end up taking cell phone models from a cheap store and hide in the apartment of a suicidal woman in a wheelchair. The brother of said woman is a security guard and former police officer who now works for a businessman who betrayed his own clients and the security guard tries to retrieve a gun that was stolen from him. His former colleagues don't care about the gun however and are busy chasing the two thieves. The security officer's daughter is friends with the businessman's son who tries to clear his father's name. His father's clients and partners organize daily funerals in the city to put pressure on the businessman who has fled the city with his emotive girlfriend. All these characters will end up at the same spot for an explosive showdown.

Does the plot sound confusing to you? It actually is and that is one of the few flaws of the film. It includes too many characters, locations and side stories. Some elements of the plot are also quite hard to believe. Another flaw is the dragging ending that certainly overstays its welcome. This film would be much more efficient if it were fifteen minutes shorter.

Apart of the stretched ending, A Cool Fish is a dynamic, entertaining and funny movie. The action scenes have hilarious slapstick elements. The dialogues often have dark and dry humour. The actresses and actors are rather convincing with the suicidal woman in the wheelchair being the greatest of them all.

If you are looking for an entertaining action-comedy movie with a few profound touches towards the end, you will certainly enjoy this dynamic film. It's not a particularly memorable movie but an enthusiastic one that is best enjoyed at your local cinema with a few friends. It's certainly more creative, vivid and surprising than another Hollywood reboot of an old action-comedy franchise.