Hun shen shi dan

This is a great movie for any fan of Hong Kong action movies. Asides from it's little plot, the weak drama and bits of comedy antics, the movie is action packed with gun-fighting and martial arts action. Kept me entertained from beginning until the end. I thought Shannon Lee was awesome in the movie.

Having an action director like Corey Yuen is what keeps Hong Kong action going strong. This modern action film is highly recommended!!

Hi, this is probably slightly off-message, and I had the luck to see this movie theatrically (good fun, appalling CGI airship, dumb dialogue, very well shot). I actually like Michael Wong but it seems he is not particularly liked by the HK movie community as a whole, but to them I say see 'Beast Cops', which is a superb HK movie but which doesn't seem to be particularly well regarded. What I have to ask is am I the only one who thought that Shannon Lee was quite unbelievably sexy? Turned me on like a light-switch! OK, she's not exactly classically beautiful or sylph-like but Hell's Teeth! She was / is one truly sexy woman. And the tight, black togs.....

Mind you, I once had a girlfriend who looked a bit like her so that might be colouring my feelings but - lordie! - she pushes my buttons! MC.

It seems Hong Kong movies and John Woo/ Ringo Lam films have influenced everybody these days and now it seems even Hong Kong movies have become influenced by the heddy days of heroic bloodshed for which Woo is credited for.

Shannon Lee and her gang are major jewel theives out to rob a diamond (think The Pink Pather but with Kung Fu), but they are also in contention with street pickpockets wanting to hit the big time.

With lots of action underscoring and a lack of characterisation on any of the main characters, its action all the way. Shannon has no personality except when she smiles with her eyebrows. She looks like a Xena meets Trinity.

The main good guy is over the top and sometimes saves the films with his outlandish remarks. The action never lets up, and although some of it is remarkably dull or very similar to Police Story III or other movies, there is a refreshing pace to the film.

Shannon and Benny Uriqudez have a good fight in the end die-hard-in-a-blimp sequence, but it pales in comparison with the Jackie Chan fights with Benny the Jet.

Shannon makes a good effort of being a gymnast-cum-diamond theif who can do quick kicks and quick side-on gags at her father (Bruce Lee) by doing the same things her father does (ie. rip off hair, do that thing with his nose or doing warcries), unfortuently it makes the film, and shannon very silly, she shouldn't be copying Mr Lee, she should do what she wants to do and leave history to Judge Bruce, not silly side on gags.

There are plot silliness to the film, and although a fun film to watch, it isn't the best of Hong Kong Cinema, give it a miss.

Overall: 3/10

Solid Hong Kong action movie which would be less interesting but for the presence of Bruce Lee's daughter (as I'm sure she hates being introduced) Shannon. She certainly has the moves and seems to have picked up much of the charisma, plus there are a few cool visual gags which serve to point out her famous heritage (there's a really neat bit where she tears out a bad guy's hair and blows it away, much as her dad once did to Chuck Norris}. Shannon's final fight on the airship is magnificent. Well worth checking out if you can find it.

Straight of the bat, why the hell they decided to dub over a cast who's first language is English (all but Jordan Chan and Anita Yuen), is beyond me. It makes no sense at all...

From Golden Harvest and director Corey Yuen comes the Hong Kong action debut of Shannon Lee, daughter to Bruce of course. And just for fun, you get moments of her father shining through, such as certain moves she pulls off during fighting, and even the fact that her dead husband is called Bruce. Yes, it's as ridiculous as the overall film!

Set in Prague, the film opens with the ugliest bunch of gangsters ever committed to celluloid, with one team led by Michael Wong and the other by super-fighter, Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez. Director Yuen Kwai tries too hard to make the introductory scene of the film slick and stylish, resulting in dodgy edits that don't help kick things off well - although I did enjoy the chained, burning, jeep action...

Thankfully, it gets better!

It doesn't take long for the cinematography and edits to calm down somewhat and as we are introduced to Shannon Lee's character. Within seconds she gets her debut action scene against Brit-kicker Mike Lambert, which is a lot of fun and typically impressive of the Yuen's choreography making Lee look more like Jackie Chan than her fast striking father.

As much as I love them both, the introduction and terrible dubbing of Jordan Chan and Anita Yuen starts the downfall of the film for me. Brought in as the comedy element, which I'm sure may work in the Hong Kong version using their original language, they come across as idiots for the most of it (mostly due to the horrendous dub in this version)...

Wong is his usual cigar chomping, stone-faced, self hardly offering any excitement except for a few gunfights here and there. Of course, it's all about Shannon Lee's breakout role as an action star, and she certainly gets the higher percentage of it - impressing in her moves as well as stunt-work and gun-play. Yuen Kwai and Yuen Tak certainly did a good job in making her look like a genuine action star!

While the film may be paper thin on plot, and the comedy as weak as a kitten, And Now You're Dead has something about it that makes you want to keep watching. The action (both in martial arts and gun-play) is the films saving grace and there is plenty of it, including a ladder-on-a-helicopter stunt inspired by Police Story 3 that is good fun after an impressive, lengthy shoot-out. We certainly can't deny Kwai's talents as an action director and this definitely delivers in that department.

After a death of one of the team members on the one hour mark, the last 30 minutes takes a mature turn leaving most of the comedy behind for an all-out, action-packed, fight filled finale on a (badly CGI-ed) blimp with Lee versus Urquidez, which is fantastic. It's great to see 'The Jet' back in some Hong Kong styled action!

Overall: Overly flawed but action packed and great fun, And Now You're Dead gives HK action fans what they want, along with some unintentional laughs...