Royal Warriors (1986) Movie Review

Royal Warriors (Wong ga jin si, Ultra Force, In the Line of Duty, In the Line of Duty II, Police Assassin) is a 1986 Hong Kong action martial arts film directed by David Chung (Magnificent Warriors, I Love Maria), a well known cinematographer in his homeland, and it starts Michelle Yeoh in her second lead role after the success of Yes, Madam! (1985), as well as Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Wong, Ying Bai and Wai Lam. This is considered to be the second film in the In the Line of Duty series, added retroactively to the franchise after the release of Yes, Madam. Although, sometimes it is mentioned as In the Line of Duty I.

Michelle Yip (Yeoh) is a police officer and kung-fu expert who stops the hijacking of a plane coming from Japan by a group of terrorists. The murder of two terrorists sets in motion a search for revenge by the organization behind the criminal act, ending the life of many innocents and provoking the stalking of the people involved, which include Michelle, flight security agent Michael, and Yamamoto, a Japanese Interpol agent.

As it is the case with many typical Hong Kong films the fighting is pretty dynamic, favoring quick cuts in movement, highly unlikely and impractical but cool-looking flips or rolls and very fast-moving violence. The style of the best of the Hong Kong action movies is present here and you will see a lot of what you are looking for if you have tasted the genre before. Yeoh and some of the actors really show off their stunts and martial arts talent in some of the best sequences (there's an incredible chainsaw fight, a daring building scuffle, destructive car crashes and some wonderful shootouts), especially the ones that open and close the movie, as you can imagine.

There's a sense of unexpected harshness and sometimes even cruelty in these Hong Kong movies. This edge is what puts stuff like Righting Wrongs or Yes, Madam on a whole other league compared to the usual action flick. The best example is when the family of a character is murdered by the criminals in this movie. First of all, usually, it's the agent in the field the one who gets killed and is then avenged by a partner or something (something that also happens here), but they also have a red herring scene that plays with the idea of the agent dying on the job but the opposite happens. Second of all, It's not something you would expect to see, especially so early in the film, because it's kind of shocking to have these types of characters, who often survive the film, or who are used to create tension and as an incentive for the hero to rescue his family, but here they are disposed off quite early since the film is more about revenge and what drives people to commit acts of vengeance, something that's explored in the antagonists as well. 

The main leads are likable enough even if the chemistry is very poor while the acting isn't. Some characters are kind of weak and not well defined but they are redeemed by the fact that the actors do a decent job at injecting some semblance of presence or charisma, even if it's tiny. This is also evident because the art direction and the visuals aren't particularly polished or elaborate, so a lot of the time you can get a somewhat plainly shot sequence that goes on for too long, followed by an action-packed and better shot one that elevates the experience.

With adrenaline-fueled dangerous action choreographies, a script with more meat and emotional resonance, Royal Warriors is a kind of stand out movie that functions as a bold addition to the subgenre. The main problem I have is that Michelle Yeoh's character should have been more active and should have had more protagonism because she isn't as much of a driving force in this as in some other later flicks or even the previous ones she starred in. Either way, she has her cool moments throughout.

Very recommended for Hong Kong action movie buffs and fans of action superstar Michelle Yeoh.

Project A-ko 4: Final (1989) Anime OVA Review

Project A-ko 4 is a 1989 action comedy sci-fi anime OVA movie directed by Yuji Moriyama. The fourth Project A-ko OVA in the series is also the very last one in the original continuity. It features the voices of Miki Itō, Emi Shinohara and Michie Tomizawa. The screenplay was done by anime writer and producer Tomoko Kawasaki (Slayers OVAs, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Corpse Princess).

The aliens known as the Alpha Cygnans are back! Meanwhile, the girls' teacher, Miss Ayumi, has been behaving in unexpected and somewhat strange ways recently. A-ko and B-ko are still at each other's throats, mostly about Kei. C-ko feels sidelined and begins to feel distant to A-ko. Kei is getting married to the girl's teacher. The wedding gets crashed by the aliens, who are still looking for their princess, and all hell breaks loose during the final ceremony.

In this cornucopia of previously seen characters, conflicts, scenarios and jokes, the callbacks and familiar faces collide into one cohesive work that ties up and concludes this needless but enjoyable series of OVA sequels. A self-aware lampoon of the franchise itself as it drinks from its well in clever ways. It's a summary of all of Project A-ko's virtues and flaws in one final fun romp. Fast pace, nonsensical elements put together in a way that has them crashing down and breaking logic and reason. It's about what you expected for a proper sequel.

The characters are all their lovable usual selves while perhaps exhibiting slightly more unconventional facets, ones that feel natural and not as out of nowhere as in the third OVA. The plot points are honestly sort of arbitrary and the excess and the overflowing of characters and subplots could be a bit too much but they manage to mostly balance them out just fine by having a very solid structure that gives the proper time and place to everyone. A lot of this fits into the A-ko franchise by virtue of being carefree and more of a spoof of tropes rather than a straight reproduction of them but without degrading itself to be mocking or contemptful, much less cynical.

I enjoyed the reveals and the twists that they throw at you without warning. When it comes to the actual resolution I definitely think it's a satisfying one, it doesn't really break any continuity and goes back to the plot points that were added as a monkey wrench to disturb the stability of the first movie. Seeing how A-ko and C-ko end in this OVA is so adorable and moving. A lovely, comfortable ending that warms my heart. I came to realize that the actresses doing the voice work and the animators created very lovable and deeply engaging characters without much "profoundity" to them by simply having them exist and be so exuberant and full of personality, to the point where these crazy platonic lovers are the cutest thing imaginable.

If you made it all the way to the fourth OVA I think you will enjoy this one or just watch it regardless. It's one of the funniest ones and has a very good conclusion to the whole story. I do recommend it.

Rage and Honor (1992) Movie Review

Rage and Honor is an American action crime martial arts film written and directed by Terence H. Winkless. It stars the DTV action movie team up Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton, along with Terri Treas, Brian Thompson and Catherine Bach as a police chief. Interestingly enough, with this film Rothrock would start becoming an associate producer in a lot of her following films.

Schoolteacher and martial arts teacher Kris Fairfield (Rothrock) joins forces with justice-seeker policeman Preston Michaels (Norton) in order to eliminate a dangerous and powerful drug lord after a student gets murdered by the criminal gang.

The lack of Rothrock in favor of more protagonism for Norton is kind of what keeps this one from coming alive, especially at a time when Rothrock could carry a film by herself. However, the two do have some nice quips and their overall chemistry is endearing. Their moves are just as phenomenal as in other films, their fighting skills are top notch and the choreographies in this particular film are nothing short of competent and well done.  Unfortunately, the entire production is a very by-the-numbers affair, ending up as a very standard DTV product with little variety or changes.

Some stylistic flourishes are present, such as the handheld videocamera shots from the opening, which relate to a character in the movie, but not much is done with this device and when the character is practically out of the movie it just disappears. The rest is a very formulaic plot executed appropriately, only slightly memorable because of some peculiar scenes, like the alley fight with the female gang members, the slow motion sequence and the scene where Rothrock has to battle Norton. The climax is a bit underwhelming and the storyline isn't as engaging as other films of this kind but it's enjoyable as a beat 'em up flick.

Recommended for Rothrock completists and fans of cheesy action films from this era.