Widow Warriors (1990)

Widow Warriors (1990)
Aka: 虎膽女兒紅
Translation: Tiger Gallant Daughter Red

Starring: Tien Niu, Elizabeth Lee, Kara Hui Ying-Hung, Wang Lai, Wong Aau, Michiko Nishiwaki, Cheung Suen-Mei, Ha Chi-Chun, Eliza Yue Chi-Wai, Alex Ng Hong-Ling, Shek Kin, Michael Chan Wai-Man, Phillip Chan, Ken Lo, Ngai Jan, Winnie Lau Siu-Wai, Chan Ging-Cheung, Walter Tso Tat-Wah
Director: Johnny Wang Lung-Wei
Action Director: Sun Chien, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei

Widow Warriors stands out among the Girls n’ Guns movies as being a bit stronger on the character development and story than a lot of the other entries, which generally pit our female fighters against generic gangsters, drug dealers, and arms traffickers. Actor-turned-director Johnny Wang Lung-Wei directs another strong film based on a script by Manfred Wong, who later became a legend for both his work on the popular Young and Dangerous films and adapting the “Feng Yun” comic into a screenplay for The Storm Riders. His work here would serve him well for the later Young and Dangerous franchise. This film in particular plays almost like a Triad version of the 14 Amazons, or an “other side of the law” inversion of She Shoots Straight.

Liu Lung (Shek Kin, of Enter the Dragon and From China with Death) is the aging head of a Hong Kong triad, which has largely gone legit in the past few years. I mean, there is probably some crime going on behind the scenes and he still employees armed men to deal with rivals, but the bread-and-butter of his empire is pretty honest. Liu Lung has an equally-elderly wife (Wang Lai, of Hong Kong Emmanuelle and Fist of Fury III) who is an honest and pious woman who constantly worries about what karma her husband’s lifestyle will bring. Together they have five children: Liu Chuan-Hau (Phillip Chan, of Bloodsport and Double Impact); Liu Ma-Yee (Michael Chan Wai-Man, of Spirits of Bruce Lee and Shaolin Handlock); Liu Yong (Ken Lo, of Crystal Hunt and Mahjong Dragon); Ann (Wong Au, of A Bloody Fight and Thunder Cops II); and the youngest, Ching Ching (Elizabeth Lee, of Sword Stained with Royal Blood and Blonde Fury).

In addition to his wife and kids, Liu Lung took on a second wife about 17 years prior—that would’ve been about 1973, although the practice of polygamy was banned in Hong Kong in 1971. His second wife, or “concubine,” is Aunt Nan (Tien Niu, of The Brave Archer and Lackey and the Lady Tiger), whose teen rebellion lead to all sorts of debauchery before the “man of her dreams” knocked her up and left her with a baby, Wai (played as a teenager by Winnie Lau, of Future Cops and Dragon Heat). Wai is going through a rebellious stage similar to that of her mother, probably because she is only barely tolerated by step-siblings and the staff of the Liu household.

As this is the Hong Kong equivalent of Bella Mafia, all of the men have their own companions, too. Chuan-Hau is married to a lady whose name we never really learn, played by Eliza Yue (of Angel’s Mission and Satanic Crystals), but who is always fighting with her husband because of his unrepentant infidelity. Ma Yee is married to Kara Hui Ying-Hung (of My Young Auntie and Lady is the Boss), and the two are the kung fu fighters of the family. Liu Yong has a Japanese wife named Chieko (Michiko Nishiwaki), who is a karate champion herself. And Ching Ching, whom daddy has always shielded from the uglier parts of his profession, has just returned home from studying abroad with a new husband in tow: Shek Chi-Au (Ngai Jan, of Mr. Canton and Lady Rose and Devil’s Vendetta).

I spent three paragraphs just describing the family dynamics, since there are initially a lot of characters to follow and it’s easy to get the relationships confused. So, the plot itself revolves around a rival gang of Triads led by the Yim brothers who have someone on the inside. They want to put Liu out of commission and take over his business and whatever territory he may be controlling, too. With the help of the mole, they are able to stage an ambush at a traditional Peking Opera presentation with results in the deaths of most of the men—Ah Hau is murdered by his mistress, who was also in the Yims’ employee. Once the men are out of the picture, all of the underlings (including Kickboxer’s Dennis Chan) are unsure of what to do, since Liu Lung was the heart and brains of the operation. Thankfully, Aunt Nan spent a lot of time accompanying her husband’s Triad meetings and has enough street smarts from her earlier years that she is able to take the reins. Meanwhile, Kara’s character—whom everyone refers to as “sister-in-law”—suspects that the Ching Ching’s new husband may be the traitor in their midst.

The first half of Widow Warriors is largely a family drama, setting up all the characters, their relationships, and the external conflict of the Yim brothers trying to edge the Liu Clan out of the business. There is a brief fight sequence early on with Michael Chan beating up some guys for hitting on his wife and sister. But beyond that, it is mainly the different interactions between the members of the Liu family, with both Ching Ching and Aunt Nan being the emotional anchors and foils—the sheltered Ching Ching and the more seasoned (but still sensitive) Aunt Nan. The first half is closed out by the aforementioned massacre of the Liu men.

The pace then picks up the second half, as the women take charge and gear up for revenge. This results in some fight sequences involving Kara Hui and Michiko Nishiwaki, which were staged by both director Wang Lung-Wei and Venom alumni Sun Chien. The highlight is a lengthy two-on-one duel between Kara Hui (whose skills steal the show) and a pair of fighters: a kicker (Shaw Brothers veteran Jackson Ng) and a musclehead (Yang Hsiung, another Shaw vet). Before that, Michiko has a weight room throwdown with Ha Chi-Chun, who also did some fighting in Brave Young Girls. Those two duke it out with a shirasaya katana and a weight bar (used as a staff), respectively. The choreography in these sequences that I'm disappointed that Sun Chien didn't evolve his craft into a better career as an action director after the death of the old school film.

The movie then veers into Godfather territory as the women start executing their enemies one by one, including all the traitors. This culminates in a big Girls-with-Guns finale at a junkyard, where the women compensate their lack of gunplay skills with by using both the element of surprise and the altitude advantage. Lots of blood is spilled before the girls finally get their revenge against the remaining Yim brother, played by Stephen Chan. And even then, all of the women are battered and bloody by the time the smoke clears…that is, those who are not dead. They may be Widow Warriors, but they are not Immortal Warriors, or Bulletproof Warriors (the Brazilian title of Once Upon a Time in China). In the tradition of the best Hong Kong movies, nobody has plot armor and everyone is subject to violence and physical suffering (not just the overwrought emotional suffering that follows each death scene). Fight fans should keep their expectations in check: there isn’t a whole lot of martial arts, but what you see is of a high standard. And with generally strong performances and a stacked cast, you can’t go wrong with this one.