White Haired Witch Photo: IC

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Photo: CFP

The Truth About Beauty Photo: IC

While Golden Bear winning director Diao Yinan's film noir work Black Coal, Thin Ice and Bong Joon-ho's claustrophobic thriller Snowpiercer have brought a darker and more sophisticated edge to cinemas in March, April is set to offer a veritable buffet of lighthearted and entertaining choices.

Home cooked fare

White Haired Witch directed by Hong Kong's Jacob Cheung, and featuring Fan Bingbing and Huang Xiaoming is one of the big domestic productions set for release this month. Revealing its black and white promotional posters during the Toronto International Film Festival last year, this long awaited 3D movie has finally been scheduled to hit theaters on April 25.

Based on the novel of the same name written by Liang Yusheng (1924-2009), this wuxia (martial arts) story set during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) revolves around the titular white haired witch and her lover.

While this extremely famous story has been adapted several times in the past, this new release not only keeps the romantic aspects of past adaptations but will also include big action scenes and visual effects.

Cheung, famous for Rest on Your Shoulder (2011) and A Battle of Wits (2006), has worked in the industry for many decades as a writer, director and actor. However, many industry insiders feel his more recent works have become rather flat and lacking in any surprise when compared to his early works such as Lai Shi, China's Last Eunuch (1986).

Another action, romance and fantasy combination is The Iceman Cometh featuring action star Donnie Yen. Reported to have a 200 million yuan ($32 million) budget, this 3D historical drama (which begins in the Ming Dynasty) intends to break records when it comes to the use of 3D technology in China.

Inviting crew members from The Amazing Spider-Man, the movie was filmed in 3D using cutting-edge Hollywood technology. However despite all this high-tech involvement, the most important thing for most audiences will still be if the story is well-told.

Donnie Yen's previous film The Monkey King was another big 3D hit that claimed to have some of the best special effects ever seen in Chinese films. Unfortunately, many film critics concluded that it was "nothing but a stupid monkey fighting around while commenting on everything." In the end, the film only managed to earn a 4.4 out of 10 on douban.com, a film, book and music scoring website. 

The Great Hypnotist will arrive in theaters on April 29. Executive producer and lead actor Xu Zheng plays a psychological consultant, who encounters the toughest case and patient of his career in Ren Xiaoyan, played by Hong Kong actress Karen Mok.

The film's director, Taiwan's Leste Chen, has been focusing on expanding his career into the Chinese mainland in recent years. His previous work - romantic comedy Say Yes, staring Lin Chi-ling and Huang Bo - earned over 200 million yuan ($32 million) in box office revenue, making Chen one of the few Chinese directors in their early 30s to have achieved such high numbers. 

The Truth About Beauty featuring actress Bai Baihe, who has played leading roles in several rom-coms such as Love is not Blind (2011) and A Wedding Invitation (2013), touches on a very popular topic of the past few years: cosmetic surgery.

The protagonist is a university graduate dealing with two recent setbacks in life - an inability to find a job and being dumped by her boyfriend due to her unattractive appearance. This time Bai is no longer the sweet girl next door but an aggressive young woman addicted to plastic surgery.

Executive producer of the film Peter Chan and director Aubrey Lam have previously cooperated on many projects together with Chan normally the director and Lam as the writer. As such this new change in roles should give movie-goers plenty to look forward to. 

The only horror film in April Death is Here 3 is the last work of famous Hong Kong actor Wu Ma (1942-2014). For fans that would like to see the master's final work, here is your chance.

Campus Confidential staring pop idols Chen Bo-lin and Ivy Chan, and My Old Classmate featuring Zhou Dongyu and Lin Gengxin, are both college romantic comedies intending to bring some innocent sweetness to cinemas.

Sweet Hollywood treats

Three Hollywood productions are set to simultaneously release in North America and China cinemas this April.

There's no need to say much about Captain America: The Winter Soldier directed by the Russo brothers. Set to release on April 4, the blockbuster is of course a must see for many Marvel fans in China. This time Scarlett Johansson also appears in the film reprising her role as Black Widow from Iron Man 2 and The Avengers.   

Transcendence with Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall and Paul Bettany will discuss a never out-of-date topic in science fiction - how to deal with a crazy scientist and his humanized super intelligent robot.

The film's director, Wally Pfister, is widely known for cinematography work for Inception (2010) and The Dark Knight series. The only cinematographer to have worked continuously with Christopher Nolan since Memento (2000), audiences know what to expect - special effects, clever camera movement and big action scenes.

Since the Ice Age production team produced Rio in 2011 and earned an approximate 150 million yuan ($24 million) box office in China, audiences have been looking forward to the follow-up adventures of the romantic blue parrot. On April 11, Blu and his mate return in Rio 2 with more family members (they have three kids) to experience more challenging adventures in the Amazon. 

Korean takeout

Following on the tail of the recent huge wave of South Korean TV dramas sweeping into China, two South Korean films are also coming to the country.

Make Your Move, set for April 17 and directed by Duane Adler is a co-production between South Korea and the US. Similar to the Street Dance and Step Up series, leading actor Derek Hough from Dancing with the Stars falls in love with Korean singer BoA. Since BoA is also a great dancer, this film has the potential to become a favorite for many dance lovers.  

The King's Wrath is Hyun Bin's first big screen appearance after returning from his military service. Featuring the 22nd ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea (1776-1800), King Jeongjo, the film will show in cinemas on April 30. This will be the first period drama that Hyun Bin has appeared in during his decade long acting career.