Rock on Fire
Like an out of control pinball on jet propulsion
fuel, this film madly veers between kinetic violence and explicit highly
charged sex and often the two are indistinguishable from one another in
this satisfying B action exploitation film. A good B action film can
be a purifying experience in that it is not burdened down with expectations
or the need to develop character beyond the basics. It is all there on
the surface for the viewer to slurp up quickly like a melting ice cream
cone. This film fits neatly into the basic plot rules of a B action film,
but it pushes everything over the edge like a bulldozer.
Two Japanese Red Army terrorists are in Hong Kong
trying to buy some weapons from Stuart Ong. Ong is a HK city councilor
and thus off limits to the cops but he runs a weapon smuggling scheme
on the side and enjoys very rough sex whenever and however he can get it.
At one point he chokes a woman to death and then proceeds to have sex
with her. He is clearly a nasty character and he has Billy Chow around
to protect him.
The terrorists are a perverse brother and sister
act the tortured brother played by Ken Lo screams out in agony whenever
his sister, Mikie Ng Miu-yee, has intercourse with another man. Mikie
called Icy drips sex like a warm ripe mango all sultry and sticky
and very dangerous. She is one of the more vicious femme fatales in a long
line of HK femme fatales. Her idea of sex is akin to a stock car rally
full of moving parts and skid marks with a big car crash at the end.
Having sex with her is tantamount to death she rips out the throat of
one fellow during orgasm with her teeth while another fellow ends up
with his eyeballs bouncing on the floor as if surprised to find itself
in a game of craps. In other words, Mikie is magnificent absolutely stunning
and it is a shame that she seems to have appeared in only a handful of
Cat. III films in the mid-90s. Ken Lo has some good high kicking scenes
and proves how tough he is as well when he seals his own wound with a
blowtorch!
On the other side of the law are the cops headed
up by Shing Fui On but most of the focus is on Inspector Cindy (Takajo
Fujimi) and her male partner. They try working their way towards Stuart
Ong and the terrorists, but every angle seems to lead to a dead body or
a dead end. The film rarely slows down for more than a moment before it
is heating up again as the film shifts rapidly between the different
sets of characters. Eventually, we enter into the sacred realm of girls
and guns as the oh so composed Inspector Cindy faces off against Mikie
in a bone crunching fight. Cindy eyes her opponent carefully, while Mikie
purrs and licks her lips in anticipation.
For whatever reason, this film fared quite poorly
at the box office in 1994, but it deserves much better. It is a well-made
film for its kind with some good action and a continuous tense edgy core
that feels like it can go anywhere and Mikie may make your eyeballs feel
like rolling on the floor as well.
As a note to no ones surprise I am sure this
film has no connection to Ringo Lams On Fire films.
My rating for this film: 7.5
