Jing Wong protege who made his name as a film editor, but also ended up directing his fair share of genre films. Hardly the most talented and unique director of the bunch, but his oeuvre is pretty meaty and full of solid genre filler.
Movies
Mak and Ng gave the film a unique style and flavor while royally quoting older films from the genre. Amusing, fun and quite lovely to look at. Great fun altogether.
Jing Wong teams up with Marco Mak, hires every famous actor he could find (Anthony Wong, Jordan Chan, Francis Ng, Gillian Chung, Ching Wan Lau, they're all present) and throws them into a comfortable genre formula that is known to work well and can be produced without too much hassle. Colour of the Truth is easy genre cinema, but backed by a movie making machine that is known for its incremental refinement and can deliver quality on routine alone. There's a plot about revenge and deceit that leads to some inevitable stand-offs, but if you've seen a couple of these films you should already be aware of that. It's hard to find obvious flaws, the only negative here is that nothing really jumps out. It's a fine production, but safe and expected. Solid pacing, a good cast, some visual flair and enough genre pandering to please both action and crime fans. I had a lot of fun with this one, but it's for genre fans only.Read all
A classic Wong Fei-hung narrative, sporting evil Japanese henchmen, corrupt Chinese officials and some serious ass-kicking by Wong Fei-hung and his apprentices. The execution is decent and it was fun to watch a simple martial arts film like this again, but it's hardly best in class and it's far from the most memorable Wong Fei-hung film out there.
A Decade of Love
Jing Wong and Marco Mak try to cash in on the horror hype. With a plot and setup not unlike Saw they deliver a film that isn't quite sure what it wants to be, drifting between horror and police thriller, with the odd parody element thrown in for good measure (because that's what you get when Jing Wong is spinning the wheels). A serial killer is on the loose. He targets young models and kidnaps them. The only way they are allowed to escape is by weighing less than 35kg, an almost impossible task. Detective Tak is put on the case, but his job suddenly becomes a lot more pressing when he gets his personal life entangled with the case. Like most Hong Kong horrors, the film never really commits to the genre, with the comedy bits being more than a little counter-productive. It's good to have Anthony Wong on board, the rest of the cast isn't on the same level. It's certainly not the worst film, but unless you're desperate for horror or you're a true Wong completist there's no good reason to prioritize this one.Read all
