Pink Force Commando (1982) Movie Review

Pink Force Commando (Hong fen you xia, Ninja Fighters, Pink Force) is an action adventure martial arts Hong Kong film directed by Kevin Chu (Chu Yen-ping). It stars Brigitte Lin, Sally Yeh, Chung-You Chang, Yang Hui-Shan, Chun-Chun Hsu and Hao-Yi Liu. It is sometimes considered to be a semi-sequel to Golden Queen's Commando (1982) by the same producer and crew. It's also a film that collects a variety of mixed components from fantasy and genre cinema as a whole.

Three female bandits steal a great amount of gold and some time later the other two find out their leader, Jackal, has used the money for her own pleasure and businesses. She has paired up with her Nazi Commander lover and now wants her old partners dead.

Like Golden Queen's Commando here we have a mixture of genre components and narrative scenarios that are mishmashed, taken from other movies and then put into a blender, only to change the protagonists of the stories to a diverse group of action girls dressed in striking and contrasting outfits in order to be easily identifiable. This time we have the usual thugs but also Nazi officers, cowboys, Klansmen and magical heroines as well, it's a seemingly never-ending list of bizarre mashups that pay off in one climactic grand battle. 

As I mentioned before, the movie takes not only inspiration from stuff we have seen in other movies but it also features a variety of scenes taken directly from Golden Queen's Commando and spliced into the movie in a haphazard manner, always in a manner so clumsy that the quality of the footage itself is mismatched and contrasts highly from the footage that's original to this movie. Scenes like the card game trick, the primal wrestling match and the drunken samurai's humiliation were put into the movie but they come out of nowhere and have really nothing to do with the rest of the movie, seeming completely disconnected from their original context. Not only that but we also have music that's stolen from movies like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Conan the Barbarian (1982) and even Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970). The former and the latter movies being scored by Ennio Morricone isn't a surprise since Queen's Commando did this as well, so at least these two flicks have some bangers music-wise.

The storytelling is about as flawed as you would expect but also eclectic and fun for a film made under such a weird production process and carefree attitude. The plot takes insane twists and detours to the point where a good amount of it becomes nearly incomprehensible and borderline ludicrous once the footage from Queen's Commando shows up to confuse you even more. I wouldn't want to be the poor bastard who watched this movie before Queen's Commando and without any clue as to how this film was made because that must have been a truly strange experience. Nothing is well glued and events rarely connect coherently, you pretty much have to put together the entirety of the film in your head, being able to identify the important moments and plot points by the way the film conveys which point of the story you are technically in, for example, you know you are at the climax because there's a great battle with two opposing armies about to take place.

I gotta say that by having much of the same cast we are able to witness some badass performances by the actresses and the wonderful stunt work during the fights. The leading ladies from this movie are not that interesting as characters, when compared to a very solid and perfectly defined roster of tough girls like the one from Queen's Commando, but the core idea of the movie is quite interesting as a jumping off point to then stick a good amount of crazy scenes after the introduction.

It's a fun time if you know what you are getting into. Only recommended for Z-grade actionsploitation film fans.

Fantasy Mission Force (1983) Movie Review

Mi ni te gong dui (Fantasy Mission Force: Dragon Attack, Jackie Chan - Fire Dragon) is a 1983 action martial arts fantasy movie directed by Hong Kong action filmmaker Kevin Chu, previously featured in the blog for directing the classic Golden Queen's Commando (1983). It was written by Wei Hsin and is known for featuring Jackie Chan in a somewhat small role alongside Brigitte Lin, Adam Cheng, Jimmy Wang Yu and Jing Fang.

The film is a typical "men on a mission" story with a ragtag group of misfits enlisted by the Allies to rescue some unorthodox generals kidnapped by Japanese forces in this fantastic and anachronistic version of WWII. The team finds a gang of cannibal Amazons, ghosts and the Axis army on their way.

You can tell this is a Kevin Chu movie because of the delirious and fragmentary narrative, the collection of genre movie elements put together in a rather impressionistic and non-coherent matter, as well as a disregard for copyright laws since this movie features stills of Snake Plissken, Rocky and Roger Moore as James Bond in a scene. Everything is just a jumble of crazy fights and nonsensical slapstick comedy done in an action movie fashion with enough blood and sexuality to make it mature but silly enough to entertain all audiences.

While Jackie Chan is considered to be the star and has top billing in some internet sites, the reality is that it is Brigitte Lin the one who steals the show, playing Lily, a tough girl with a grenade launcher and a black jacket. She kicks everyone's butts and has to save the day in just about every other sequence. Lin had previously played Black Fox in Golden Queen's Commando and her character has a cameo in the film as one of the possible heroes who can pull off the dangerous mission but it is said that she quit and started a family, pretty funny. Unfortunately she doesn't make it to the end, a lot of characters don't, but she is the shining light of an already curious movie.

There are a lot of very dynamic and fun battle sequences involving several acrobatic feats caught on camera and perfectly staged to make the stunts shine. There are many memorable stretches such as when Lily pulls one of her trick contests at a bar at the beginning of the film, shooting the dress off a tied up girl, as well as a whole middle section with the male characters trapped by an all-female army that ties people down with cloth and is lead by a guy in a tuxedo with his wife. The final battle with the Nazis is also awesome. There's very little in between that doesn't work either so i would say that this is a well balanced and always fast-moving picture.

Very recommended for Hong Kong action movie fans, this is one of the weirdest and most delirious films in the canon and with its good stunts, starpower and constant crazy scenarios it will entertain for all of its length.

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.