Three short Girls n' Guns Reviews

Killer Angels (1989)
aka: Extreme Vengeance; Ultra Force
Chinese Title: 殺手天使
Translation: Killer Angel

 

Starring: Moon Lee Choi-Fung, Gordon Liu Chia-Hui, Kingdom Yuen King-Tan, Yuen Hung, Leung Kar-Yan, Lau Siu-Kwan, Fujimi Nadeki, Shing Fui-On, Ng Man-Tat, Chan Pooi-Kei
Director:  Tony Liu Jun-Guk
Action Director: Tsui Fat

Moon Lee and Yuen King-Tan (Abacus Fong from Wing Chun) play a pair of elite policewomen called the Angel Squad. They are called in bring in a former gangster named Jackie Chan (Shaw Brothers actor-turned-Cat III creator Lau Siu-Kwan), who claims to have a list of all of his former associates. While Rosa (Yuen) watches Jackie so that he doesn't get into trouble, Yueli (Moon) goes undercover as a singer at a nightclub owned by the Big Kahuna (Leung Kar-Yan, of Shaolin Martial Arts and The Odd Couple). His top enforcer, Michael (Gordon Liu, of Heroes of the East and Return to the 36^th Chamber), has some sort of past with Yueli, but we never exactly find out what it is. The Big Kahuna's daughter and Michael's lover (Fujimi Nadeki, of Crystal Hunt and Cheetah on Fire) notices and takes a Strong disliking to Yueli. Stuff happens and our characters get in numerous scuffles and firefights until the finale, when our two heroines, joined by a high-kicking female DA's assistant, lead an assault on a skin trafficking deal between the Big Kahuna and some "Middle Easterners" (including a blonde-haired Michael Houghton, student of the late Lau Kar-Leung).

There is quite a bit of action here, although most of it is of the gunplay variety. The fight scenes are generally short, with the final fight between Moon Lee and Leung Kar-Yan, plus a fight between Moon Lee and the female DA, being the two stand-outs. Her fight with Mike Houghton, who uses hung gar as if he had walked out of an old school movie, is sadly really short. The choreography itself, provided by Tsui Fat (whose credits include Mountain Warriors and Boxer from the Temple), is pretty strong. He makes Fujimi Nadeki look better than she did in her other movies. Gordon Liu doesn't show much of his skills, but he does get to wield a huge honkin' revolver that would make Dirty Harry jealous. The plot is no great shakes, but there's enough 80s style action to keep any HK cinephile happy.

 

The Dragon Fighter (1990)
aka Hard to Die 
Chinese Title: 地頭龍
Translation: Head Dragon

 

Starring: Alex Man Chi-Leung, Alex Fong Chung-Sun, Francis Ng Chun-Yu, Sibelle Hu Hui-Chung, Carrie Ng Ka-Lai, Nishiwaki Michiko, Eddy Ko Hung, Gregory Lee Wing-Ho, Kam Hing-Yin, Tin Ching                     
Director: Tony Liu Jun-Guk
Action Director: Tsui Fat

 

The third movie from Tai Seng's "China Heat series" is this lesser-known Girls n' Guns vehicle: an unoccasionally fun, but frequently unfocused movie about a number of people whose lives are affected by a drug kingpin, played by Eddie Ko Hung (Duel to the Death and Hitman in the Hand of Buddha). Sibelle Hu plays the imaginatively named "Madame Hu", a detective who's determined to bring down Eddie, spurred on even more by the fact that her dad is a junkie. Michiko Nishiwaki (Passionate Killing in the Dream and My Lucky Stars) is Japanese girl who's in Hong Kong trying to assassinate Ko for personal reasons that I didn't catch (I saw an unsubbed version in Cantonese). The Naked Killer’s Carrie Ng is the girlfriend of Francis Ng, who I *think* runs the legitimate business that serves as a front for Eddie Ko's activities. Alex Fong is tough-as-nails hitman in Ko's employ who falls for Carrie. Alex Man shows up as a petty criminal that Madame Hu is always harrassing. All of their paths will cross in diverse ways.

There is a fair amount of action in this movie, although the film tends to drag during the non-action scenes (or maybe it was the fact that I don't speak Cantonese). Genre veteran Chui Fat handled the action duties and acquits himself fairly well here. He was always a dependable choreographer, even when saddled with B-movies for most of his post-Shaw Brothers career. Michiko Nishiwaki gets a nice fight at the docks where a drug deal is going down and a brief fight on a passenger train. Sibelle Hu mainly uses firearms, but does have a very short fight with Mark Houghton in the beginning and a fight atop a moving vehicle with a drug dealer (Wong Chi-Hok) midway through the movie. Carrie Ng and her stunt double have a nice acrobatic fight in a dark room with Jimmy Au and she has another fight with some thugs right before the climax. Alex Fong mainly uses a gun for his scenes, although he does some basic fisticuffs on occasion. The climax is a huge gunfight at a container warehouse that spills over into a nearby shantydown. There are some car stunts, lots of explosions, and thousands of bullets being fired. There are also lots of smaller gunfights scattered throughout the movie.

In typical Hong Kong action movie fashion, nobody is given plot armor and anybody can die at any time. There is one suprisingly graphic death of a child...onscreen!

My main gripe, besides the occasional lull in the story, is that Alex Man's character is over-the-top and obnoxious, which is at odds with the rest of the movie, which is serious and brutal.

 

Power Connection (1995)
Chinese Title: 龍虎之戰
Translation: Dragon and Tiger Battle

Starring: Yukari Oshima, Robert Mak Tak-Law, Lo Lieh, Andy Tai Chi-Wai, Ko Chun-Kit, Leung Wing-Yim, Phillip Ko Fei, Newton Lai Hon-Chi, Mark Houghton, Jestoni Alarcon, Karla Estrada
Director: Phillip Ko Fei
Action Director: Phillip Ko Fei

This HK-Filipino co-production was made at the tail-end of the Girls n' Guns genre, when practically all of these movies were meaning made in the Phillipines. And it only makes sense that this one would feature Yukari Oshima, since she had a strong following there, billed in her movies as "Cynthia Luster". In fact, her popularity in the Phillipines seems to continue to this day. She has a fan page on Facebook that is mainly populated by Filipino fans of all ages.

The plot is some nonsense (written by cut n' splice maestro Godfrey Ho, no less) about a Filipino cop with a mullet and a mustache named Ray going after a drug dealer named Dick. After killing his right-hand man (Philip Ko Fei, who directed and choreographed this movie, and had actually dated/married Yukari Oshima at some point), Ray chases Dick to Hong Kong. At the same time, Yukari Oshima is a HK cop disguised as an enforcer for Henry, a local crime boss who's losing his clientes to Dick. Ray finds out that Dick had promised his girlfriend Lina a singing career in Hong Kong, but locked her in a mansion and got her hooked on heroin instead. Dick eventually kills Lina and flees to the Phillipines, with Ray and Yukari in hot pursuit. There is a fair amount of gunplay here, which is exaggerated, but sort of fun. Yukari shines in her three fight scenes, and her opponents include hung gar stylist Mark Houghton and a flashy kicker. Too bad her fights only add up to four minutes of screen time. Not great, but it's at least a little bitter than Ko Fei's own Yes Madam 5 made at the same time.