City Ninja (1985)

City Ninja (1985)
Aka: Ninja Holocaust; Rocky’s Love Affairs; 108 Golden Killers
Original Footage: Hwa-Ya (South Korea, 1983)
Chinese Title: 偷情
Translation: To Have an Affair

 

Starring: Casanova Wong, Chae Eun-hui, Michael Chan Wai-Man, Bae Su-jeon, Han Ryong, Mabel Kwong Mei-Bo, Elaine Kam Yin-Ling, David Lo Dai-Wai, Hon Kwok-Choi
Director: Yeung Chun-Bong, Choi Young-Chul
Action Director: Han Ryong, Baek Hwang-ki

 

City Ninja is an interesting case among the Ninjasploitation / Cut n’ Paste movies of the 1980s in that like Ninja Terminator and Ninja Champion, the source material was a South Korean martial arts film. However, unlike those movies, which were made purely for distribution outside of East Asia, this one was retooled for a local Hong Kong release. The same actors were rehired to shoot new footage, although Casanova Wong had visibly gained weight in the ensuing years. It’s Hong Kong release, while not hugely successful, made more money locally than one might expect for this sort of movie.

The movie starts of in World War 2 with a Caucasian soldier being chased through the sticks of China by a bunch of ninja assassin. The guy is in possession of a necklace of unknown value, which will become the McGuffin of the entire film. A random Chinese peasant/martial artist comes to the white soldier’s aid and the latter gives the former the necklace, telling him that he’ll be at some point to reclaim it. Both men survive the ninja assault and go their separate ways.

Switch to modern times (i.e. the mid 80s) and we meet our main character, a kickboxer named Wang Li ( Michael Chan, The Gallants and Eight Escorts). Wang Li’s boss, played by David Lo Dai, is not just a bigwig on the fighting circuit, but he has Mafia ties too. One day, the Italian mafia shows up in David’s office and starts haranguing him about the necklace, which has found its way to South Korea.

Over in South Korea, Jimmy (Casanova Wong, of Warriors Two and South Shaolin vs. North Shaolin) is also a kickboxer who can only eke out a living on the underground circuit. A friend of his, Pak (Park Dong-Ryong, Hard Bastard and Girls in the Tiger Cage), convinces him to do some work for David. Pak is murdered at a strip club shortly thereafter, leaving Jimmy and the deceased’s sister, Linda (Chae Eun-Hui, of Incredible Shaolin Thunderkick) on their own. We later learn that Linda is actually a spy for the Korean redhead kingpin, taking advantage of Jimmy’s ignorance of the underworld to get him to switch sides without him realizing it.

Now that Jimmy’s gone turncoat, David wants Wang Li to go and retrieve the necklace from the Redhead. Michael responds that he’s a fighter and only a fighter. No mob enforcement duties for him. However, circumstances conspire in David’s favor. Wang Li is engaged to Jenny (Elaine Kam, of The Black Magic with Buddha), who doesn’t want to put out until after marriage That leaves him open to the sensual designs of his touch-starved manager (and David’s wife), Lisa (Mabel Kwong, of Hong Kong Superman and The Club). On the eve of Wang Li’s trip to Thailand for a tournament, Lisa shows up at Wang Li’s apartment, claiming to be pregnant with his baby. Wang Li refuses to accept responsibility, leading to Lisa pulling a gun on him. The resulting struggle leaves her dead and Wang Li with no recourse but to head to Korea and get the necklace from Jimmy.

There are obviously a lot of kung fu movies I haven’t seen with, but City Ninja as of now is probably on my top five list of movies from the genre that show off the most skin. An early scene sets the tone, in which a female fan of Wang Li takes off her top in front of everyone at a nightclub and then asks him to sign her buttocks. After that attention-getting scene, there are several explicit sex scenes, involving Michael Chan, Casanova Wong(!), and three different actresses: Mabel Kwong, Chae Eun-Hui and Wai Ka-Man (who also showed off her goods in Boxer’s Omen and Seeding of a Ghost). The female nudity mainly comes courtesy of Miss Wai, who does the full-frontal thing during a shower scene previous to her going to bed with David’s second-in-command. The other girls have their ladyparts strategically covered during their lengthy sex scenes. However, that said, these scenes aren’t particularly sexy, thanks to the unconvincing overeagerness of the male actors on the kissing front. Keep it slow and sensual, fellas! You’re lovers, not ravenous cannibals!

The plot is surprisingly coherent for a movie with this much added footage. I mean, it’s all bunk and silly, and comes apart at the end, but it’s still reasonably easy to follow. But forget about that and focus on the fight scenes. The action directors were Han Ryong (Star Zzanga Z Mazinga V Super Betaman) and Baek Hwang-Ki. The latter was a long-time veteran of Korean martial arts cinema, both in front of and behind the camera. Master Baek most notably choreographed Dragon Lee and Legendary Superkicker on Martial Monks of Shaolin Temple and 5-Pattern Dragon Claws. He did some pretty good work on those films and brings a great amount of experience to this movie, infusing the action with the 80s quickness and intensity that defined Hong Kong action at the time.

Casanova Wong dominates on the action front, fighting different Korean gangs and would-be assassins at every turn. His opening scene pits him against a Goliath-esque Thai boxer in a fight that isn’t flashy, but fast and brutal. Baek and Han’s choreography really shines when Jimmy takes on a bunch of a bald gangsters at a pool hall, with some killer choreography and creative uses of billiard balls in the sequence. There’s also a fight against another gangster at a Woman’s Mud Wrestling match and a neat scene where Casanova turns his girlfriend into a weapon, just like in Half a Loaf of Kung Fu and Romeo Must Die.

The titular ninja don’t return until the last act, when they kidnap Linda at…I dunno who’s request. Probably Redhead? Anyway, the fight scenes involving the ninja were filmed later on, which is why Casanova is suddenly a little pudgier in the face. There’s a fight scene on a bridge that leads into a forest. Expects lots of katana posturing, flying and burrowing, and and a side order of unnecessary somersaults to make things extra ninja-y. That’s followed by a nice one-on-two fight involving a martial artist who’s mastered the Iron Vest technique and a Japanese samurai villain.

Michael Chan doesn’t get as much fight time, despite playing a kickboxer. In one sequence, he takes on some Italian gangsters (including the late John Ladalski) with poles and sticks. It’s a brutal fight, although a bit early 70s in its presentation. Chan doesn’t really shine until the climax, which was taken from the original Korean film. Chan and Casanova have a long, vicious fight that is probably the best moment for Michael Chan of his post-old school career. It has the relentless energy of your best 70s basher fights, but better technique on display. Chan goes for the economical punches, kicks and knee smashes, while Casanova shines with the bootwork, as usual. Both men take inhuman amounts of punishment and show off their skills to the maximum possible. The warehouse setting, complete with the fighters getting knocked into falling boxes, is reminiscent of the finale of Dragons Forever, another classic (and manic) showdown. This is probably Korean fight choreography at its very best before their complete cinematic revolution in 1999…and it holds up even today!