This comic book-style film, conceived and produced by Tsui Hark combines the martial arts talents of Jet Li and Yuen Woo-ping among others with stylish editing and camera work. Given this, the results of this ambitious project remain less desirable due to a weak plot that fails to match the quality of the action.
Tsui Chik (Li) is a super soldier who leaves a government funded secret organization that trained him to escape a life of killing. Yet his new and quiet life as a librarian is soon interrupted as he finds himself fighting the same group when they begin brutally killing off local drug lords and attempting to blackmail the government by stealing classified criminal information. Caught between his friend, a cop who disapproves of the Black Mask’s vigilantism, a love from his past with orders to kill and a new love that he must protect, Chik struggles to stop the very forces that created him.
First, this film obviously taps into the one time popularity of THE KATO SHOW, known in the West as THE GREEN HORNET, co-starring Bruce Lee. It is a superhero story in the Western sense but the filmmakers take it further. The film also owes some of its ideas to UNIVERSAL SOLDIER (1992) and THE CROW (1994), not to mention THE HEROIC TRIO (1993). A grim story of medically engineered soldiers in primarily industrial settings with ultra-violence employing guns, explosives and martial arts is certainly not a new concept. The soldiers are devoid of emotion and possess a high tolerance to pain including Chik who rebels against this lifestyle. This also has the negative factor of making most of the villains simply uninteresting despite their impressive killing abilities. Li’s character is saved the same fate by his interaction with his co-stars.
It should be made clear that with Yuen onboard, the action choreography is typically spectacular. Li slides across a floor with laser beams zipping past him and Francoise Yip as the film’s femme fatale hurls kicks at Li before leaping into an impressive pose doing the splits from chains hanging from the ceiling. The camera work from cinematographer Cheung Tung-leung (DRUNKEN MASTER 2) compliments the action well with generous use of dramatic angled shots and lighting on dark sets. This is one of Li’s best action showcases from the mid to late ’90s. Despite some quick and close editing, Li’s incredible skills still shine through. Li is born for roles involving stoic heroes of few words but ample action and BLACK MASK fits the bill.
It’s clear that the story is meant to be a dark vision of the corruption of morality. An organization of soldiers chemically engineered and trained as assassins become worse than the criminal targets they are designed to eliminate when their insane leader decides to shift the balance of power. Likewise, both Chik and his friend, Detective Shek (Lau) question each other’s tactics in dealing with criminals, creating a mildly humorous situation that is unfortunately not fully exploited.
The only other humor is provided by Karen Mok as the innocent love interest and fellow librarian who finds herself mixed up in Chik’s deadly affairs. There isn’t any chemistry here and her character ends up sharing similarities to Maggie Cheung’s lightweight performance in Jackie Chan’s POLICE STORY series. A more engaging tryst occurs between Li and Yip who share a history and now find themselves on opposite sides despite a previous bond. Yip’s electrifying performance is definitely a standout. In addition, Li and Lau Ching-wan’s onscreen bonding gives the film a real grounding thanks to good chemistry.
BLACK MASK is a relatively weak modern day entry for Li who shined so brightly in Tsui Hark’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series. Thankfully, the hyped up action, dynamic cinematography and supporting cast are nearly all outstanding which makes this film better than many of Li’s later Hollywood projects and it’s certainly worth a look.
by Mark PollardRelated Topics:
Black Mask (1996)
