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SAVIOUR
OF THE SOUL (1991)
A.K.A.
- Savior Of The Soul; Saviour Of Souls; Terrible Angel
Reviewed
by Andrew Saroch
Sometimes
a little imagination and invention can do wonders with a
relatively small budget. Hong Kong film-making has often been
a perfect showcase for this ethos with many cult classics and
subsequently influential films being evidence of the skill of
the director rather than the size of the production values.
'Saviour Of The Soul' is an excellent example of these
cinematic virtues and has rightfully gained a huge following
among filmgoers world-wide.
Andy
Lau takes a lead role as a 'City Warrior' - a supremely gifted
swordsman who defends futuristic Hong Kong from various
villains. With him is a suave, gun-toting hero (Bee) and a
dagger-wielding super-heroine, (Mui) who use their incredible
skills to aid law enforcement. Spending considerable time
together as a trio - with occasional interruption from Mui's
shrill twin sister - the two male heroes begin to fall in love
with their fellow warrior. The past though catches up with Mui
as a formidable fighter named Silver Fox (Kwok) comes looking
to avenge his master at all costs. In a startling battle at
the train station, Bee is killed defending Mui and Silver Fox
escapes with a severe injury to his eye. Knowing that her
presence means further trouble for Lau and Bee's newly arrived
young sister (Yip), Mui goes into hiding and attempts to
protect those she loves from the wrath of Silver Fox. Having
lost the woman he loves, Lau concentrates on his swordplay
skills and looking after Yip who secretly has a crush on him;
discreetly though he continues to look for her in every corner
of the city and even disrupts a martial arts tournament to
find her. When the young City Warrior finally finds his long
lost love, his actions bring into being a final showdown as
Silver Fox returns to kill those he left behind.
With
a startling visual style and innovative action aplenty,
'Saviour Of The Soul' ranks among the very best of the Hong
Kong fantasy genre. Each frame of this production is filled
with sharp, eye-catching colours that give the whole film the
unique texture of a larger-than-life comic book and makes sure
that this is a cut above the average action film. It's
refreshing to see stars such as Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Anita
Mui combine efforts and also break out of their usual
character roles; Lau in particular seems to relish the chance
to appear in such an off-the-wall production and enjoy mixing
comedy and fight action. Although the action is performed by a
non-martial arts skilled cast, action-choreographer Yuen Tak
makes sure that everyone involved is made to look as
impressive as in any of their other films. The final battle
between Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok stands as obvious proof of
this. What has caught the eye of many newcomers to Hong Kong
cinema - aside from the exciting fight action - is the
well-designed special effects that give clear indication of
what can be done on a smaller budget. Every dollar of the
budget has been poured onto the screen and fully utilised.
For
those who are not familiar with Hong Kong cinema's fondness
for broad comedy alongside their action, certain elements of
'Saviour Of The Soul' may seem jarring or inappropriate. Some
moments start out firmly as action orientated ones and then
suddenly turn into comedy, but this is not particularly
unusual for a Hong Kong film and the comedy is quite
effective. If you've yet to see this 90's cult classic film be
sure to catch it at the next opportunity. Although it just
misses out on full marks, it is still an undeniable must-see
film for all action film fans.
Rating:
 
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