The Black Panther Warriors
Frenzied and incoherent like a mass escape from
an insane asylum, this film teeters on the edge of anarchy before it finally
slips over into the abyss of total chaos below. Rarely has a film been
subject to more scorn than this 1993 effort from director Clarence Ford
– and most of it deservedly so. Still there is a mild fascination in watching
such an undisciplined film unfold like a multi-car turnpike pile up. That
among its victims lie some of Hong Kong’s most appealing actors – Brigitte
Lin, Simon Yam, Carrie Ng and Tony Leung Ka-fai - makes the disaster all
the more perversely irresistible. Throw on top of this the deliriously
constant changing fashion flurry and the “blink and you will miss a dozen
bad guys get killed” action and you have a frothy cream pie that can be
tasty at times but often ends up splattered on your face like an embarrassing
hickey.
Changing moods as often as the characters do outfits,
this film seemed to be trying to capitalize on the Savior of the Soul/Heroic
Trio type of film by mixing comedy, modern day wuxia, romance and goblets
of visual style into one unruly package. On nearly every count it fails,
but there are those occasional glorious moments of exhilaration and beauty
when Ford gets it just right – little bursts of brilliance in the dark
that are reminders of why you love Hong Kong film. The comedy in particular
is labored and painful – fast moving Marx Brother antics minus the humor
and inspiration. Tony Leung and Dicky Cheung are most guilty of this –
neither ever missing an opportunity to mug before the camera like a B vaudeville
show from the depths of hell.
Some of the action is fairly inspired though as
the characters whirl through the air like hip dervishes on speed, cutting
down hordes of enemies in all sorts of imaginative ways from decapitation
with sharp edged playing cards to exploding basketballs. Most of this is
done in a breathlessly quick editing style that makes it nearly impossible
to follow, but still maintains style to kill for and a sense of the cool.
Style is primarily what this film is all about. Ford almost always brings
his decadent visual ostentation to his efforts from Naked Killer to Her
Name is Cat and this clearly takes preference over plot or character development.
He loves creating a world full of startling colors, oversized floppy hats
and subversive subtext in which women are beautiful but deadly and men
often their lapdogs.
Whatever the faults in Ford’s narrative ability,
no Hong Kong director can make their female stars look as luscious and
flamboyant as he does – they sizzle as much as act in his films like a
Molotov cocktail waiting for a match. Here he brings back Carrie Ng, his
lethal lesbian killer from Naked Killer, in all her lipsticked splendor
– purring one moment and garroting someone the next. Most interesting is
the appearance of Brigitte Lin slumming in a Ford film – it would have
been fascinating to see her used in a more exploitive way – bringing out
her smoldering sexuality - but Ford unfortunately plays it safe here
with this icon and has her go totally straight faced. Considering that
she played outrageous and comical roles in Boys are Easy and Eagle Shooting
Heroes in the same year, it seems that Ford missed an opportunity. Needless
to say, Brigitte still looks fabulously glamorous in the various concocted
fashions she wears and makes head wear a seemingly necessary accessory
- and her character is the most skilled killer of all - but bringing a
degree of fetishistic sexuality to her character would have been ever so
intriguing . The two other female characters, Jennifer Chan (as the other
female member of the group) and Elsie Chan (the fingerprinted victim) both
look lovely as well.
The plot is simply there to fit in the other elements
that are closer to Ford’s heart, but it revolves around Alan Tang being
hired by Melvin Wong (with Yuen Wah staying in the background) to steal
a box from a police station. To do the job he recruits Brigitte, Tony,
Simon, Carrie, Jennifer and Dicky for their particular skills – Brigitte
a wuxia warrior, Tony an expert marksman, Simon for his lethal card skills,
Carrie for her seductive smile and deadly flying chains, Jennifer for her
fighting and cleaning ability and Dicky for his computer knowledge. There
are the expected twists and betrayals but it is often overwhelmed by puerile
humor such as Dicky turning into an idiot if his pacifier comes out of
his mouth or Tony somersaulting out of a room in ecstasy whenever he hears
Mandarin (ok so I sort of understood when Brigitte spoke it!). One
should also be warned that the subtitles on the dvd are some of the worse
I have come across – nearly every line is mangled like a garbage sink disposal
doing the translation. This clearly could have hurt one’s appreciation
for the comedy – but I doubt it! This is a hit and mainly miss affair that
is probably only for die hard HK film fans with a taste for bad schlock
and chic and supercilious French fashion shows.
My rating for this film: 6.0
To see a few more pictures from the film click
here.