The Angel in the title will tip off the HK cineaste that this is a "chicks-that- kick-butt" movie. And a fine one it is, where the women in the movie are portrayed as figures that stand out without any of the patronizing attention of "look, it's a woman kicking butt." They are genuine heroic figures, and the effect is quietly electrifying. This is what Sharon Stone in The Quick and the Dead should have felt like.
The convoluted story rolls like this: A female police inspector and her elder male partner are trying to bust a gun-running ring. The male partner's estranged daughter, Bullet, gets released from prison and tries to help her friends, pissing off her old triad boss in the process. Her old triad boss is, of course, one of the guys who is running the guns, and Bullet gets pulled between her resentment of her absent father and her abusive ex-boss between doing the right thing and doing the selfish thing. As her easygoing friends try to convince her to take the easy way out, she ends up not only a criminal again, but hunted by the police, the triads and the gun-runners.
Bullet, as you can tell, takes up most of the story, and I wish to God I knew the actress's name. Not only does she radiate a cool charisma, but her Kung Fu is rip-roaring good. There's a scene which outdoes anything Courtney Love or any Riot Grrrl could dream up, where she kicks the living shit out of a bunch of guys in a pool hall while wearing baggy pants with a print pattern of the word "Slut" written in red.
Her best friend (also a great fighter), the hot-headed police inspector (ditto) both play major roles as well, giving the movie three strong female roles. The movie goes on a bit long, and it's got a few too many we're-wacky- carefree-kids-with paper-thin-characters-as-supporting-roles but everyone involved should be lauded for making a heroic female movie as good as this.
Anyone interested in B-cinema as positive subversive force should check this out.
Postscript: By the way, since this review was written, Asian Trash Cinema II came out, revealing the actress as Yukari Oshima and the year as 1993. But I already found it before ATC II by using the link below. Just so you know.
All written material on these pages is © 1998 by Jeff Lester. With the exception of non-profit distribution, all other rights are reserved.