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Cast:
Maggie
Q
Almen
Wong
Anya
Jewel
Lee
Daniel
Wu
Cheng
Pei Pei
Andrew
Lin
Action:
Ching
Siu Tung
Producer:
Wong
Jing
Director:
Ching
Siu Tung
Score:
 
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NAKED
WEAPON
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2002 Reviewer: Tony
Ryan
Since
the late 90s, the prospect of a new HK action film has
increasingly failed to inspire hope, and have always further
reinforced my rose-tinted view of the 80s Golden Age. It has
become increasingly apparent that HK movies are trying as hard
as their budgets will allow to become Hollywood style films.
'Naked Weapon' is unfortunately no exception.
Almost
entirely in English, 'Naked Weapon' is a sometimes-grim tale
of female assassins, who were all kidnapped as teenagers and
forced into training. 3 of this group were kept alive to
become the worlds most sought after hired guns. Daniel Wu
plays a Federal agent who has been tracking the case for
years. Ultimately, this loose plot becomes discarded, and
Andrew Lin appears out of nowhere to be the bad-guy with whom
Maggie Q must battle in the entertaining final reel.
Action-wise,
this is much like any other HK film of recent years,
incorporating a heavy dose of wirework and CGI to
"enhance" the fight scenes. More often than not this
looks out of place, and merely pulls the viewer out of the
experience. A couple of fights are memorable though, with one
being the aforementioned finale against Andrew Lin. In this
instance, one almost feels as if Andrew Lau has taken over the
film as the special effects and "swooshing"
camera are in full effect. It is nonetheless quite lengthy and
innovative, not to mention brutal. The second features Daniel
Wu in a rare opportunity to show off his skills, but while
being a decent effort, is a little too brief and quickly
becomes over the top when he leaves two of the girls fighting
each other. Most of the other action scenes are less
competently directed and have little sense of realism, either
because none of the hits appear to connect, or because the
combatants are clearly not skilled at all.
The
eye-candy on offer is worth the price of the DVD alone, and
many of the girls are clearly not shy to shed their clothes.
This being a Wong Jing production, there are the obligatory
scenes of female degradation and over the top villains,
however, the director keeps this to a minimum. When the
credits rolled, I was left relatively confused, as it seemed
to have flown by very quickly which is usually a good sign. Or
maybe I was relieved to no longer have to listen to the
atrociously scripted dialogue. Even if you were to put the
Cantonese track on, many people are still speaking
"American" English. Worth a look if you are a fan of
the genre, as much of the action hints at the potential on
offer when such talented choreographers are available.
Otherwise, its another of today’s, generic
HK-action fare.
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