The swordsman Zhang Zhen is injured in a misadventure and rescued by Eldest Sister of Changchun Sect, who has a crush on him. However, Zhang falls in love with the maid Yuenu instead, and conceives twins with her. The couple are killed by a group of evil pugilists later. The Eldest Sister is angry with Zhang Zhen for not accepting her and plans to make Zhang's children kill each other as revenge. The baby girl (Xiaolu'er) is saved by Zhang's friend, Lian Lanyan, while the male infant (Hua Yuchun) is taken away by the Eldest Sister. Lian Lanyan encounters the Ten Villains when he passes through Villains' Valley. He is overwhelmed by them and knocked out in a fight. The baby Xiaolu'er is taken away by the Villains, who surprisingly do not harm her, and instead intend to groom her to become the greatest villain ever. Eighteen years later, the twins meet each other by coincidence.
Alongside A Drowning Man, I Signed The Petition, 3 Logical Exits, and A World Not Ours, A Man Returned continues to paint a realistic portrait of the Refugee Crisis that eschews the Western gaze and stereotype. These are real portraits painted by a director with lived experience, cultural connection and an amazing eye for visuals.
It’s been five months since Wayward premiered on Netflix and it still has some of us in a choke-hold.
I write for a diversity-focused film review blog, so I’ll be honest: I really wanted to like Pretty Lethal. Starring Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Iris Apatow, Avantika, and Millicent Simmonds, Amazon Prime’s new thriller seemed like it would be a girl power movie about dancers with a horror action twist. Sort of a Suspiria for teens. But with shallow and unlikeable characters, a confusing plot, an overreliance on violence, and cringey dialogue, any fun the movie started out with was quickly lost. What was left was a faint echo of greater horror movies about dancers made before.
Tran Quoc Bao succeeds in telling us a story about martial arts, human decay, and friendship. The originality shown by his filmmaking is admirable and brings fresh air to the classic Chinese martial arts genre.
A smashing sequel to the first Sonic the Hedgehog film that also brings back elements from the popular video game series.
