Hak mau (Black Cat, 1991)
2022: Movie #358
Watched November 27th
On the 88 Films Deluxe Collector’s Edition (Box Art) IMDB
Directed by: Stephen Shin
Written by: Bo Shun Chan, Tan-Ping Lam, Wai-Lun Lam
TSPDT: Unranked
96 minutes. An early 90s female assassin movie that takes some tropes from Le Femme Nikita later used in everything from Ava to Colombiana to Lucy or Hanna.
It also borrows a lot of tropes from other 80s action movies, to be fair. The basic premise is a Chinese-American woman is homeless, or at least on the road a lot and frequently between jobs, and has a terrible temper. She also is a brawler in the truest sense of the word. She’s tough, never gives up even when she’s taken a terrible beating, and relies on street smarts and experience over formal training.
Somewhere along the way she gets on the radar of the CIA and they decide she would be a good assassin so implant a chip in her brain and put her in a training program. Things largely go as you would expect and she learns some hard lessons in life and love. Although this is jam-packed with cliches, it also has a unique personality. Jade Leung plays Catherine and really jumps off the screen. The supporting cast around her is okay at best, but she is believable as someone who is unhinged and also a brutal fighter.
If you’re looking for a reason to see the film I would say it’s a solid genre film that delivers on the promises of action and assassinations. The runtime is perfect and it is a very easy watch. Fair warning, the dialog and acting are very tough in the first five minutes. At least it is laughable and keeps the film light, but really bad haha. I wouldn’t say the writing ever gets excellent, or even good, but it’s clear they wanted to make a derivative of Le Femme Nikita and that they had some fun with the premise.