Enter the Eagles
Shannon Lee’s HK debut is an action tour de force.
The daughter of Bruce Lee explodes on the screen and it is nearly impossible
to take your eyes off of her. Not only is she incredibly authentic in her
action scenes, but
she has a presence about her that makes her
interesting even when she is absolutely still.
Though this film directed by Corey Yuen Kwai is
totally absurd at times, I think it is still the best action film to come
out of HK in the last couple of years. Now the script was likely written
in a day and the term character development is a foreign concept in this
film, but the action scenes are frantic, kinetic and exciting. And the
film is nearly non-stop action on a big scale.
Michael Wong along with Shannon and three other
gwielos are professional thieves and they strike a deal with Benny the
Jet Urquidez to steal a diamond from a museum in Prague and sell it to
him. Shannon is the enforcer
for the group - she does all the dirty work
and does it very well. At the same time, two HK pickpockets in Prague -
Jordan Chan and Anita Yuen - learn of the plan and try to get in on the
deal. When Wong turns them down,
they decide to steal it themselves with bees
and honey. Both groups try to steal it at the same time and everything
goes wrong. Urquidez and his gang try to get the diamond by killing everyone
and from that point on the film
goes into overdrive.
There is a shootout in a police station which
then goes on to a helicopter ride with a dangling ladder and then to a
shootout through the streets of Prague that is a 30 minute non-stop action
blowout. Then there is a poignant pause
for a few minutes and we are on to the next
big action set piece that takes place in a dirigible over the Alps. Benny
has a little fight with Shannon along the way and shows that he hasn’t
lost a step or that vicious kick. It
was a pleasure seeing him return to the HK
screen as a bad guy again.
Anita Yuen is extremely charming in this film
as the slightly quirky but sweet pickpocket. She gets involved in the action
as well.
Most of the film is in English with only Anita
and Jordan speaking Cantonese. Even they speak English for much of the
film and it was a pleasure hearing Anita say in accented English “I am
going to waste your balls”.
This was a totally enjoyable ride of a film
that literally doesn’t give you a minute to think about how implausible
it all is.
