Watched I, the Executioner the other day. It doesn't do anything new, but it's a fun film. Even if the "twist" is incredibly obvious and the plot is muddled by some underexplored family drama, Hwang Jung-min energizes the script with his charisma and the action is a step above the first Veteran.

Forgot to embed this into my first post .-.

Watched Shogun's Ninja. Koichi Sakamoto is back with another short but fun action film. The story and characters are interesting but a bit underdeveloped due to the runtime. The movie has plenty of action to keep things interesting. Himena Tsukimiya and Kanon Miyahara play off each other well.

Watched K.O (2025), a by-the-books action film with some above-average editing. Cyril Gane is imposing while Antoine Blossier & crew manage to capture the fights surprisingly well. Expected a bit more from the finale but the night club is fun. With some refinement they could make something great.

Watched HIT: The Third Case, a bloody action thriller. The story is a bit long and there's this needless police brutality scene but the last act is a barrage of swords and guns. The action feels a bit budget at times but it's fun and the intrigue managed to keep me interested.

Watched Pushpa 2. Did it have to be almost 4 hours long? No, the story is run-of-the-mill and I thought Fahadh Faasil was underutilized. There are some fun action scenes, however, especially the final fight (which isn't this one).

Watched In the Line of Duty 4. This has to be my favorite of the girls with guns genre. There's no weird exploitation, bumbling comic relief characters, just 1hr30min of nonstop action. Cynthia Khan proves she can hold her own and they even bring in Donnie Yen for twice the excitement.

Watched Smugglers (2023). Unfortunately, I didn't really connect with the drama or the characters so the first half dragged a bit. The last 45 minutes are a solid ride of thrills that pays off. The movie is more crime film than action but the 2 fights that they do have are surprisingly satisfying.

Watched Dead Silence (2023). The first half starts on an interesting premise akin to The Witcher with a few solid wirework fights. Unfortunately, the film's drama bogs things down later on. Coupled with an underwhelming final fight, it doesn't end on the greatest impression.

Watched Clan of the White Lotus. I didn't realize this was the third movie in a series but it was still fun even if I didn't know why Gordon Liu kept going for people's groins. There's nothing like some good Shaw Bros martial arts action and Liu gets to tackle several different styles.

Watched Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General the other night. I've never gotten attached to the characters but the series has been consistently solid in terms of its action. At least this one tries to give General Ohki more depth, even if it's done in the middle of a duel.

.. a story about three high schoolers afraid of growing up because they know what the future holds is a refreshing change of pace. It doesn't quite land the camaraderie, but it does a good job of balancing the boys' fears while they try to better themselves. A positive film to bring in the new year.

It feels like at the end of every year, I watch a film which manages to bump its way onto my top 10 of the year. Escape from the 21st Century doesn't actually have any standout action but it does have a lot of humor and a ton of fun special effects. Amidst a sea of cop dramas and war films..

Watched Go for Broke the other night, a pretty standard undercover cop infiltrates a gang of drug dealers story. It does build into a cheesy climactic shootout about an hour in which I honestly really enjoyed.

Managed to watch Desperado (2024) last night. While, yes, it's another "man protects child from criminals" I find the story more interesting than the flood of "hardboiled cop fights crime for justice" that we got this year. The final fight is a letdown but the other action scenes are pretty good.

Watched Black Storm before the end of the year. Another Qin Pengfei film so you know what to expect. The plot is as plain as it comes but the action is as good as it gets. This time, they play around a lot with enclosed spaces by holding an intense 2v1 in an elevator and a duel in a scaffolding.

Watched Devara. A somewhat interesting premise comes to a halt midway in the movie for an unnecessary timeskip which introduces some pointless characters. That being said, some of the visuals and choreography are nice but it doesn't excuse all the bloat. Also I wanted an excuse to test posting a vid