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MADAM
CITY HUNTER
AKA:
Lady Hunter
Year:
1993 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
The
sub-genre sometimes known as 'femme fatale' has often relied
on charm and action rather than big-budget advantages. At
times this formula has created some real classics of Hong Kong
cinema and at other times there has been merely the mediocre
on offer. 'Madam City Hunter' fits rather too well into the
latter category despite boasting the talents of Yuen Woo Ping
as producer.
A
female cop (Khan yet again) becomes embroiled in a mob killing
when she meets a pair of witnesses to the assassination.
Before she can further her investigation though, the
policewoman finds herself as a suspect when the witnesses are
murdered. After the inevitable suspension from duty while her
case is heard, she combines forces with a private detective
who seems to have links with the events. Before any answers
can be uncovered the pair must first stop a deadly gold-digger
concentrating her talents on the policewoman's besotted
father. Strangely enough though, the two seemingly unrelated
problems merge into one as each episode nears its end.
It
was certainly reasonable to expect much better from the talent
that combined for this production. A cast that combines femme
fatale queen Cynthia Khan with top Hong Kong actor Anthony
Wong and familiar faces Tommy Wong and Hui Ying Hung should
have offered a solid 90 minutes of entertainment. Instead a
watchable opening ten minutes descends into a frustrating
mixture of insipid comedy and pointless drama. Adding to this
painful blend is the presence of Sheila Chan - perhaps one of
Hong Kong's most annoying screen personas; a few seconds of
her screaming and bawling into the camera is enough to test
even the most forgiving viewers. Although it could be argued
that there is some well-executed action at the end, the fact
of the matter is that it comes too late to succeed in
entertaining. With all this against it and other weaknesses
not even mentioned here, it goes without saying that this is
best avoided.
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