Game of life after death…
★★★★☆ OUT NOW DIGITAL 27 MAY BD
EXTRAS ★★★☆☆ Commentary, Featurettes, Outtakes EXTRAS
When Bruce Lee died in 1973, aged only 32, the star was at the height of his popularity. Wowed by posthumous hit Enter the Dragon, audiences were left clamouring for more Bruce, leaving studios with a void to fill… and fast.
Documentarian David Gregory explores the so-called ‘Brucesploitation’ craze that followed the actor’s death, tracking down the impersonators who were hired to star in the rip-offs and pseudo-sequels to his work, each purporting to be the real-ish thing, or as good as. All the surviving Bruces, from Bruce Li to Bruce Le, reflect on their time in the industry, working on such titles as Re-enter the Dragon and The True Game of Death (both 1979).
The rush to cash in on a beloved star’s passing still leaves a sour taste in the mouth, but this upbeat documentary homes in on the more comical lengths studio heads would go to in order to keep their moneymaker ‘alive’ and earning. As for the Bruces, they give insightful commentary on a career in mimicry, revealing genuine passion for their craft. Along the way, Gregory also takes in Lee’s successors (Jackie Chan film clips, an interview with Sammo Hung). Enter the Clones… reinforces something we already knew to be true - there’s only one Bruce Lee – but it’s not all that’s learned.
THE VERDICT Gregory’s lively documentary celebrates Lee’s incredible legacy via the accomplishments of his imitators.
NEXT SOHEE TBC
★★★★☆ OUT 14 JUNE CINEMAS
July Jung’s sombre, penetrating drama puts exploitative corporate practices under the microscope. Its opening hour follows ebullient teenager Sohee (a captivating Kim Si-eun), whose gruelling work placement at a telecom call centre ends in tragedy; the second half shifts focus to a stoic detective (Doona Bae, compellingly understated) investigating the dehumanising conditions that caused it. As a string of blame-shifting officials refuse to take responsibility, Jung’s film assumes the quality of a Loachian polemic – its simmering rage eddying into heartbreak for an intensely moving final shot.
LITTLE MONSTERS PG
★★☆☆☆ OUT 31 MAY CINEMAS
Not to be confused with 2019’s Lupita Nyong’o zom-com, this Russian-made, English-dubbed animation imagines a world where every home comes with its own invisible
