Angel III Aka Iron Angel 3

 
Director: Teresa Woo
Year: 1989
Rating: 6.5
For some reason that I never quite understood, Muammar Khaddafy (bedecked in an Italian WWII uniform and a riding crop with which he happily hits his subordinates) has hired an army of mercenaries to assassinate some top government officials in Thailand. Why Thailand? Perhaps because it was a low cost place to make a “Girls with Guns” film! At any rate, it is up to the Angels to try and stop this deadly plot from being carried out.

This 1989 third and final Angel film is generally considered to be the weakest of the series – the typical sad fate of most sequels – but much to my surprise I still found it to be a very solid entry in the “Girls with Guns” genre. Both Alex Fong and Moon Lee are back – though regrettably Elaine Lui is not (still brokenhearted from Angel II?) – and each of them have some terrific action scenes. Interestingly, they are rarely in the same scene together and one has to guess the film was shot around the busy schedules of each of them. This leads to the producers trying to evenly divide the action between the two of them – and causes a huge missed opportunity that hurts the film badly – but more about that later.


Good “Girls with Guns” films are about action – as the genre began to wear out its welcome in the mid-90s the budgets got smaller and the fights got fewer – but that is certainly not a concern here. Moon has four action scenes as does Alex and for the most part they are well done. In fact, two of Moon’s fights are among her best – and she has rarely looked more agile and quick then she does here. One of the her fights has gained some fame as a large piece of it is shown in the documentary “Deadly Fighting Dolls” in which she takes on a house full of killers single-handedly with only her skills, a sword and nunchakas. I should also mention that rarely has Moon looked so cute as she does here – and scandalously – has a scene in which she wears a brassiere!
 

Moon first appears stumbling along – bumping into everything with her large spectacles making her look like a librarian in search of an overdue book  – but of course this is just a clever disguise and the Moon in fact has an assignment to take out a Japanese female assassin and replace her. After doing so with a brutal head through the window move, she is introduced to the evil female Gweilo head of the killers, Katy Hickman. Her appearance strongly reminded me of a boss I use to have – and this one enjoyed torturing her underlings as much as my old boss use to! Needless to say, when she gets her comeuppance it was more than a little fun for me.
 

Meanwhile back in Bangkok, Alex is searching for clues – but instead manages to get involved in a kickboxing match that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the film – but it was a fairly good fracas anyway. Eventually, Moon’s identity is discovered – and she has to fight her way out (the before mentioned scene) and join Alex. They figure out where the final hit is taking place – but it is already underway – a huge assault with bodies being cut to ribbons – and the Angels show up to stop it. Or make that Angel. One keeps waiting for Moon to make an appearance – and waiting – OK – the Gweilo female shows up – now Moon will certainly show up for a classic female vs. female duel to the death. But no – apparently Moon had an appointment at the hairdressers – so the film ends with this gigantic fight and no Moon on the rise – not a good thing!