Say hey to Day 3 of THE BEST HONG KONG FILMS OF THE 2010s, a countdown of HK movies from the 2010s that was voted upon by individuals who admit that they have visited LoveHKFilm.com. Your sacrifice is noted.

In this installment, we’ll be revealing numbers 45-31 and we have to say it again: If you’re just joining us, head back to the first post so you can read this countdown from the very beginning. That way, you’ll reduce spoilers and won’t be waiting for THE GRANDMASTER to show up, because it already dropped at #53.

“Gah! How could THE GRANDMASTER rate so low?!?
I’m feeling the pain of a durian
passing through my lower intestine!”

Just kidding, it’ll show up in the 20-30 range.

One negative aspect to this voting, and this was also true for the BEST HONG KONG FILMS OF THE 2000s, is that running a vote right as the decade ends is bad for just-released films. Some popular films were only released in December and there was not enough time for people to see them. Likewise, BETTER DAYS and SUK SUK made the BEST 75 but might have ranked even higher with more time. Then there’s the excellent MY PRINCE EDWARD, which could have had a shot at a decent rank but has barely played theatrically.

At least Stephy is taking it well:

Previous Updates, if it matters:
Numbers 75-61
Numbers 60-46

Hit the jump and let’s keep this thing moving. It won’t end if we don’t.

45. THE BULLET VANISHES (2012) - 63.5 points, 1 first place vote - LoveHKFilm Review

Simon Booth calls THE BULLET VANISHES a “slick and smoothly executed tribute to Sherlock Holmes” - an accurate assessment, and yet it wouldn’t be going too far to accuse director Law Chi-Leung of occasional theft. His satisfying and entertaining action-mystery shares a similar tone, character quirks, and even set pieces with Guy Ritchie’s SHERLOCK HOLMES - though Law has (relatively speaking) a greater star pairing in Lau Ching-Wan and Nicholas Tse as the detective and the cop looking for bullets that kill and then mysteriously vanish. These mysteries are themselves not that unpredictable, but BULLET remains a rich experience thanks to its period setting, the stellar leads, and Jiang Yiyan’s excellent supporting turn. Sadly, the film’s greatest achievement may be how much better it is than two subsequent projects: its own sequel, THE VANISHED MURDERER, which was entertaining but nonsensical; and the most recent pairing of Lau and Tse, HEARTFALL ARISES, which was mystifying in its sheer badness. The truly pessimistic might connect the dots and see a narrative of Hong Kong Cinema’s declining quality through these three films, but let’s go for the superficial read and simply say: THE BULLET VANISHES is very good even if those other two movies aren’t. In a vacuum, one out of three ain’t bad.

44. CHASING THE DRAGON (2017) - 64 points - IMDB Page

Previously the subject of award-winning gangster epic TO BE NUMBER ONE, Ng Sek-Ho (a.k.a. Limpy Ho) gets another glamorized biopic covering his underworld reign in 1960s-1970s Hong Kong. However, instead of being portrayed by a chipmunk-cheeked, scenery-chewing Ray Lui, Limpy Ho is played here by a man with a perm named DOONNNNNIIIIEEEEEE. That means this Limpy Ho kicks some serious ass. Before he gets the limp, that is. Wong Jing and Jason Kwan’s epic crime saga has its debits but it’s also an entertaining and even gripping action drama, providing plenty of criminal intrigue, hard-hitting violence, and explosive overacting - not only from Donnie Yen but also Andy Lau, who shows up as corrupt cop Lui Lok (a.k.a. Lee Rock), which happens to be the exact same role he played in the nineties dramas LEE ROCK I and LEE ROCK II. If that nostalgia weren’t enough, the film also features an excellent recreation of the Kowloon Walled City when it was still a towering, lawless monument to zoning violations. Followed by the sequel-in-name-only CHASING THE DRAGON II, which starred Louis “Him Again” Koo and Tony “Not that Tony Leung” Leung Ka-Fai instead of Donnie Yen and Andy Lau. Not unexpectedly, it did not rank on this list.

43. FAGARA (2019) - 65.5 points - IMDB Page

Sammi Cheng fans, rejoice! The onetime Queen of the Box Office has seen her fortunes dim along with Hong Kong Cinema’s in general, but she returned to acclaim (if not box office dollars - man those are hard to come by) with this beautifully-shot family drama from writer-director Heiward Mak. When her father (Kenny Bee) passes away, single Hong Kong woman Acacia (Sammi Cheng) discovers two previously unknown-to-her half-sisters: Branch (Megan Lai) from Taiwan, and Cherry (Li Xiaofeng) from China. Despite hailing from different places, the three share immediate similarities, starting with their contentious relationships with their father, plus a shared interest in returning his failing hotpot restaurant to its former glory. Its obvious political metaphor aside, FAGARA is easily relatable, as each woman has identifiable conflicts, and the family hotpot restaurant creates a rich backdrop for them to reconcile with themselves and each other. But more important for the HK Cinema fan, the film features both Andy Lau and Richie Jen in supporting roles, i.e., two of Sammi Cheng’s most frequent leading men, which creates a fun though frivolous mini-narrative for Sammi fans to glom onto. One must ask, however, why Louis Koo couldn’t spare an afternoon to show up and play Sammi’s yoga coach or something. Dude, you had time for MEOW, surely your old buddy Sammi can be granted a cameo? Regardless, FAGARA possesses an undeniable air of quality, and is a solid production deserving of a look. Former site contributor Yinique called FAGARA an “unexpected late addition. A quietly touching, funny and heartfelt film.” Sadly, FAGARA did not result in Sammi winning her long-awaited Best Actress statue from the Hong Kong Film Awards, as she lost to the eternally adorable Zhou Dongyu for BETTER DAYS.

42. IP MAN - THE FINAL FIGHT (2013) - 66.5 points - LoveHKFilm Review

When you’re hot, you’re hot. Before IP MAN there were no films about Wing Chun master and Bruce Lee teacher Ip Man, but after Wilson Yip’s IP MAN the floodgates opened. Naturally, THE GRANDMASTER and the IP MAN films get all the attention, but Herman Yau’s IP MAN - THE FINAL FIGHT deserves consideration too. Yau’s take on Ip Man’s life is not romantic or flashy, and instead portrays the man in a more grounded and humble manner. Having a superlative actor like Anthony Wong play Ip Man obviously helps - sure, he may not fit the movie idea of a martial arts master, but he actually has martial arts training. And anyway, it’s likely that most real-life martial arts masters look more like Wong than Donnie Yen or Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. Wong is backed by a solid cast of one-time A-listers (Anita Yuen, Jordan Chan, Gillian Chung) as well as some old school and new school martial arts actors. The film even offers a cameo from Bruce Lee that deserves a second look - especially when one considers how Quentin Tarantino did Lee dirty in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. Both Tarantino’s film and FINAL FIGHT imply that Bruce Lee was an ambitious self-promoter, but in only one of the films is Lee physically taken down a peg. What does this comparison say about these films? Ehh, I’m not really sure, but man, that Brad Pitt sure is dreamy. I would argue that Anthony Wong is a much better actor, however.

41. LITTLE BIG MASTER (2015) - 69.5 points, 1 first place vote - LoveHKFilm Review

Directed by Adrian Kwan, who was once Hong Kong’s #1 creator of Christian film, inspirational drama LITTLE BIG MASTER is based on the true story of Lui Wai-Hung (played by Miriam Yeung), an educator who quit her job as the principal of a prestigious kindergarten. Feeling that the system prioritizes money over the well-being of children, Lui becomes headmistress of Yeung Tin Kindergarten, a failing school with only five students, for only HK$4500 in monthly salary (about US$580). Naturally, this charitable move encounters resistance from all sides, and even creates conflicts with her husband Dong (Louis Koo), though he eventually shows his support by bringing a 1:1 scale replica of a guillotine to her workplace. This sort of makes sense in the movie. Sort of. Replica murder devices aside, the true hook of LITTLE BIG MASTER is its cute kids: a trio of Chinese girls and a pair of Pakistani sisters. Jennifer Ng declares about this film, “Cutest kids ever - the only HK film this decade I saw 6+ times,” while Phil and Anto call the film “Simply cute.” LITTLE BIG MASTER went on to become a sizable hit, while the five young girls got endorsement opportunities from health and beauty chain Mannings. Louis Koo also shilled for Mannings, and co-starred with the girls and a big furry cat in some commercials. Eventually, Louis Koo and the cat co-starred in the horrific MEOW, while the girls did not. WINNER: The LITTLE BIG MASTER girls!

40. CALL OF HEROES (2016) - 70 points, 1 first place vote - LoveHKFilm Review

Benny Chan has long been one of Hong Kong’s best action film directors - and frankly he should stay in that wheelhouse because when he wanders off the action reservation (like with, uh, MEOW), the results aren’t always pretty. CALL OF HEROES is pretty - not visually, but its Shaw Brothers-inspired storyline and surplus of action is a sight for sore eyes. Obviously inspired by Howard Hawks’ RIO BRAVO, this actioner is set during the Warlord Era, and concerns a righteous sheriff (Lau Ching-Wan) who jails a warlord’s son (Louis Koo) after he commits atrocious crimes. With the warlord’s army bearing down on the village, the sheriff must decide whether to free the evil bastard or risk the village’s destruction by staying true to his principles. CALL OF HEROES isn’t exactly subtle - Louis Koo’s performance is so over-the-top it could join Donald Trump’s Space Force, and one of the supporting performers is Liu “I overact for money” Kai-Chi. Still, Sammo Hung’s action is strong and varied, with some very fun fights between conflicted bad guy Wu Jing and Eddie Peng, who’s excellent as a charismatic and carefree kung-fu wanderer who randomly decides to help the good guys. CALL OF HEROES lacks the pretensions that make modern movies seem “important” but its collection of stars and fun retro vibe is pure Hong Kong Cinema enjoyment.

39. OUR TIME WILL COME (2017) - 75.5 points, 2 first place votes - LoveHKFilm Review

Ann Hui (a.k.a. “Mom”) strikes again with another Hong Kong Film Award Best Picture winner (Her third of the decade!), the other two being THE GOLDEN ERA, which ranked #59 on this list, and A SIMPLE LIFE, which ranked #100 because, you know, it’s really not that good or well-liked (”/s” for the people in the back row). OUR TIME WILL COME is a portrait of Hong Kong under World War II Japanese occupation, a setting that offers spy intrigue, local resistance fighters, and even some action or gunplay. However, despite those elements, it’s remarkable just how “Ann Hui” the film ends up being, i.e., this is a subdued, even relaxed thriller that eschews tension for rich details and outcomes that are appropriately anticlimactic. And yet, during this non-exciting war film, there’s plenty of heroism and humanity on offer, sometimes from the most unexpected and least likely of people. The massive cast is excellent, with plenty of surprising or refreshing performances to take in, especially for diehard Hong Kong Cinema fans who’ll recognize every last bit player. If one were to choose a Hong Kong director of the 2010s, Ann Hui may not be the first name to spring to mind. However, after taking all her achievements into account, arguing against her is probably a bad idea.

38. IP MAN 2 (2010) - 76 points - LoveHKFilm Review

LP Hugo of Asian Film Strike calls IP MAN 2 “the ultimate martial arts crowd-pleaser, as rousing and inspiring as a ROCKY film (which it often apes for better and for worse).” Wilson Yip’s second installment in the IP MAN franchise places Donnie Yen’s Ip Man in Hong Kong, where he runs afoul of corrupt martial arts masters while trying to ignore the ugly racism exhibited by the occupying British. That second conflict reaches a crescendo when racist boxer Mr. Twister (played with decibel-crushing glee by the late Darren Shahlavi) takes on the aforementioned martial arts masters in the ring. After Twister routs his Chinese foes, Ip Man decides to get in the ring and ends up doing the ROCKY IV thing down to the last letter - that is, except draping himself in a flag because there isn’t a flag that represents the Republic Of Awesome Righteousness (ROAR for short). It’s all quite rousing and entertaining, but also pandering to degree that beggars belief - hey, just like ROCKY IV! A blockbuster with a capital “B”, IP MAN 2 reaffirmed Donnie Yen’s status as the martial arts star of the new millennium and cemented Ip Man as a Chinese folk hero along the lines of Chen Zhen and Wong Fei-Hong. For further proof of Ip Man’s legendary status, take a gander at Jeff Lau’s KUNG FU LEAGUE, which teams Ip Man with Chen Zhen, Wong Fei-Hong and Huo Yuanjia in a time-travelling action-comedy of belief-busting proportions. In a complete non-surprise, KUNG FU LEAGUE did not receive a single vote from readers.

36 (TIE). LOVE IN THE BUFF (2012) - 77.5 points, 1 first place vote - LoveHKFilm Review

After the second-go-around with Cherie (Miriam Yeung) and Jimmy (Shawn Yue) made beaucoup bucks, Pang Ho-Cheung officially completed his transformation from HK hipster fave to major box office force. It was just a matter of time - Pang has always possessed a postmodern, smarter-than-you sensibility, and it seems audiences finally caught up with him in the 2010s. Pang brings back his less-than-perfect protagonists from LOVE IN A PUFF as they break up and then consider making up, while trading barbs and making pop culture references. Pang also holds back on referencing political or historical events - previously one of his go-to things - and instead seems to tilt subtly towards China, as his characters take a detour to the mainland where they each hook up with absolutely perfect people (played by Mini Yang and Xu Zheng). It’s a credit to Pang’s filmmaking that he can somehow sell Cherie and Jimmy dumping their perfect new partners for a re-hookup, and Miriam Yeung is superb in her role (she earned a Best Actress Hong Kong Film Award for her troubles). And if all the above doesn’t sell you on LOVE IN THE BUFF, then consider this: There’s an Ekin Cheng cameo where he plays himself - how great is that? What’s not so great: This is the last film on this list that features Ekin Cheng in any capacity.

36 (TIE). COLD WAR (2012) - 77.5 points, 1 first place vote - LoveHKFilm Review

If you had to pick one movie about guys in suits yelling at each other in the office, you should choose GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS. But if you limit yourself to just Hong Kong movies, then it’s probably COLD WAR. A major milestone for Hong Kong Cinema, COLD WAR made massive box office, won multiple awards and, in its greatest masterstroke, somehow got a disgraced ICAC officer in his sixties a Best New Artist award from the Hong Kong Film Awards. Completely bewildering award wins aside, COLD WAR is a high-quality, high-stakes crime thriller about white collar cops who work in tall skyscrapers and rarely mingle with the common folk. Instead, they make tough decisions from afar while politically maneuvering for a better job title or maybe that nice corner office. Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-Fai are the heavyweight cops angling for a promotion, while Gordon Lam, Andy Lau, Aarif Lee, Chin Kar-Lok, Eddie Peng, Andy On and even Michael Wong show up in supporting roles or cameos. Charlie Young deserves special mention because she’s in the movie and female. Leung and Luk would return four years for COLD WAR 2 (ranked #65 on this list), which added Chow Yun-Fat to the already powerhouse cast. Leung and Luk also made action-thriller HELIOS, which featured agents from Hong Kong and Korea working to stop an international arms dealer. It was less well-received than either COLD WAR movie, which leads to the unfortunate possibility that Longman Leung and Sunny Luk are simply not that talented when making movies that aren’t about guys in suits yelling at each other in the office.

35. PARADOX (2017) - 77.5 points, 2 first place votes - IMDB Page

How can you give a Best Actor Award to a man when it’s his tan that does most of the work? This is the paradox at the center of Wilson Yip’s PARADOX, a brutal action-thriller that’s actually the second sequel to the neo-classic SPL (or KILLZONE, if you prefer generic titles). Louis Koo earned his first acting awards from both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Asian Film Awards as a tough HK cop who travels to Thailand in search of his missing daughter. Along the way, he uncovers a horrifying crime ring, teams up with superstar Tony Jaa (a.k.a. Tony JAAAAAAAAA), and pretends to do martial arts via great editing and the occasional stunt double. PARADOX doesn’t surpass either of the SPLs in action (though Sammo Hung did win an HK Film Award for his work), but arguably soars past both with its emotionally wrenching storyline. LP Hugo calls PARADOX a “timeless, quintessentially Hong Kong thriller-tragedy” - a solid take, as the film veers decidedly into the unexpected darkness and pessimism that once characterized a good chunk of commercial Hong Kong Cinema. By the way, we’re sorry that we made light of Louis Koo’s acting - he truly does impress in PARADOX. Koo has put in the work and absolutely deserves his awards. The most his tan should get is a raise, though extra per diem or a personal assistant would be fine too.

34. THE NEW KING OF COMEDY (2019) - 81 points, 1 first place vote - IMDB Page

Not content to simply not act in and only direct his films, Stephen Chow has made it his thing to not act in and only CO-DIRECT his films, enlisting minor names like Derek Kwok and Tsui Hark to handle matters when he’s too busy or too hungover from a late-night bender. When KUNG FU HUSTLE 2 finally gets made, Stephen Chow will direct the entire film via Zoom, or relay occasional notes to Wong Kar-Wai, who will be on Zoom talking to assistant director John Woo. When you’re that talented and popular, we guess you can do that. Anyway, THE NEW KING OF COMEDY is Chow’s latest hit film (co-directed by Herman Yau) to heavily reference or be based on a previous hit, which is pretty much everything he’s done in the last decade with the arguable exception of THE MERMAID. Newcomer E Jingwen is the Chow stand-in; she plays a lowly and somewhat laughable film extra whose dedication to acting ends up being her source of strength. Wang Baoqiang is the has-been actor who becomes her frenemy, while Cecilia Cheung provides the voice of E Jingwen for about one minute in the Cantonese dub (this fact was heavily marketed in Hong Kong). While some may find THE NEW KING OF COMEDY to be too small given Chow’s stature as Chinese Cinema’s Untouchable God, it still delivers plenty of his trademark shtick to predictably-successful effect. The title is a lie, though: There is no new King of Comedy. The King has reigned for nearly 30 years and is still on top. Even if he no longer appears in his movies.

33. ABERDEEN (2014) - 82.5 points, 1 first place vote - LoveHKFilm Review

Pang Ho-Cheung got serious with ABERDEEN and the stretch marks did not show. Simon Booth calls ABERDEEN “quietly, gently, beautifully devastating,” while Valerie Soe opines that the film is “completely different from Pang Ho-Cheung’s comedies, demonstrating what he can do when he wants to be serious and contemplative instead of loud and disgusting. Both of which he does absolutely brilliantly.” This multi-layered portrait of a family in quiet crisis features a dynamite all-star cast, including Louis Koo, Miriam Yeung, Gigi Leung, Eric Tsang and Ng Man-Tat, while many previous Pang performers show up in nifty cameos or supporting parts. The themes themselves are not that new, but Pang jazzes them up with off-color content, using such fun topics as adultery, perversion and plastic surgery to probe the family’s simmering discontent. Add to that Pang’s penchant for obvious metaphor (There’s a ticking bomb in Wanchai!) and pop culture references (Chapman To uses a lengthy STAR WARS story to somehow school Louis Koo), and mix in Jason Kwan’s superlative cinematography, and you have a film that should delight Pang enthusiasts and intrigue many others. Sadly, despite receiving a Best Picture nomination from the Hong Kong Film Awards, ABERDEEN did not receive much awards love. A directing award for Hong Kong’s number one fan-favorite smart-ass filmmaker will have to wait.

32. THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN (2014) - 83.5 points - LoveHKFilm Review

Tsui Hark tries his hand at the modern China patriotic film with this adaptation of one of the Eight Model Plays of the Cultural Revolution - operas that specifically glorify the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Communism to inspire the proletariat and piss off the upper classes. Yes, this is a rah-rah China film, but Tsui Hark doesn’t dwell on the patriotism and instead delivers an enormously fun and well-made wartime action-adventure. This movie has it all: stalwart soldiers, kind nurses, sneer-worthy bad guys, a femme fatale, an eye-popping MacGuffin (10,000 catties of gold that’s never actually seen during the course of the movie), and a super-charismatic hero turn from Zhang “My integrity is over 9000″ Hanyu. Zhang is PLA scout Yang Zirong, who works with a small PLA troop led by Lin Gengxin to oppose a group of Nationalist-aligned bandits (led by Tony Leung Ka-Fai under prosthetics) holed up in a Japanese fortress in the mountains. While Yang infiltrates the fortress and pretends to not be a PLA mole, the PLA troop holes up in a small village to protect the villagers SEVEN SAMURAI-style. This results in plenty of nifty set pieces and cool 3D visuals (this is where we mourn the death of at-home 3D again), plus a weird framing device that somehow justifies a wild Indiana Jones-type action finale that, despite being perhaps too over the top, is still scads more entertaining than most action nowadays. After a bad run in the previous decade, Tsui Hark really roared back to prominence in the 2010s. May the 2020s be as kind to The Master.

31. TEN YEARS (2014) - 83.5 points, 1 first place vote - LoveHKFilm Review

In early 2015, the odds-on favorites for Best Picture at the Hong Kong Film Awards were Philip Yung’s PORT OF CALL and Tsui Hark’s THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN - and that presented a problem. How do you choose between two completely different films that are both excellent in their own way? The answer was obvious: Pick a different, totally unexpected film for Best Picture that happens to reflect the political zeitgeist! This, dear readers, is the true story (based on vague speculation) of how TEN YEARS won the HKFA for Best Picture, thereby pissing off a guy at Media Asia and everyone in China somewhat-related to the film industry. That’s because this political anthology film dared to present imagined visions of Hong Kong ten years into the future, with the prevailing idea being that the CCP’s increasing influence would totally suck and turn Hong Kong into an unpleasant dystopia. Given the Umbrella Revolution, this fear gained traction and gave way to protest via Best Picture votes. And hey, it worked because everyone is still pissed off years later! Emanuelle Sacchi of Hong Kong Express calls TEN YEARS “the movie on what is happening and what will happen in Hong Kong. The prophecy, the possible truth.” Valerie Soe takes that even further by calling the film “utterly indispensable and completely prescient. It only took five years to get here, though.” Our timeline is closer to four years, but let’s not nitpick. TEN YEARS’ status as “the best picture of 2014″ may one day be disputed because 2005, CRASH, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. But it will always be important and always be remembered because it reflects what Hong Kong truly felt. TEN YEARS isn’t just a prophecy, it’s a time capsule.

Whew, the big political movie placed at #31! I was concerned that TEN YEARS would not rank at all, because who knows if people will remember a film starring Liu Kai-Chi? Unfortunately, #31 is not a great finish (really, it’s going to rank lower than a bunch of Sammi Cheng movies), so I fully expect foreign actors to contact me to ask why I am not on board with democracy and freedom in Hong Kong. I’ll just have to tell them that I, too, am a foreign actor and then we’ll get together for beers to discuss strategies for destabilizing Hong Kong and implementing US influence. We’ll also shop for cheap Nikes, eat big steaks, and complain incessantly that Hong Kongers don’t do things “like we do back in the States.” Yeah, we Americans are the best.

Check back in a day or two when numbers 30-21 get dropped.

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