Angel Warriors
铁血娇娃
China, 2013, colour, 2.35:1, 95 mins.
Director: Fu Huayang 傅华阳.
Rating: 6/10.
Enjoyably trashy fighting-babes fodder is a throwback to late 1980s Hong Kong quickies.
STORY
Somewhere in Southeast Asia, the present day. A group of five extreme outdoor female Chinese backpackers arrives at the entrance to Kana Jungle, home of the untamed, aboriginal Tiger Tribe. The group’s leader is Bai Xue (Yu Nan), a wealthy company CEO; the others are Ta (Pan Shuangshuang), a wild animal protectionist, Yanyan (Hu Mengyuan), a dancer and martial artist, Tongtong (Wu Jingyi), an archaeologist and polyglot, and Bai Xue’s cousin Dingdang (Wang Qiuzi), who sells outdoor clothing on the internet. All of the women have been friends since childhood; also joining them is former professional soldier Wang Laoying (Zou Zhaolong), best friend and former comrade-in-arms of Bai Xue’s late younger brother Bai Yun. Meeting them at the entrance to Kana Jungle is US-educated Dennis (An Zhijie), who says he’s making a documentary for National Geographic, and his Tiger Tribe friend Sen (Shi Yanneng), who is engaged to Princess Ha’er (Wangdan Yili) and will act as guide for Dennis’ group. Bai Xue’s group and Dennis had met by chance in Pattaya Beach, Thailand, three days earlier and had decided to team up. However, after they’re all threatened by a tiger on the first night in camp, and Dennis’ men suddenly produce Uzis to scare it off, the women become suspicious and next day decide to go off on their own. They’re later attacked by the Tiger Tribe, and Yanyan, Dingdang and Tongtong are captured for sacrifice. Ta goes missing, but Bai Xue and Wang Laoying try to rescue their three friends. Meanwhile, Dennis’ group is also attacked by the Tiger Tribe, and only he and Sen separately survive. Dennis, whose real mission was to steal the tribe’s store of precious stones, reports back to his father. Enraged, the latter decides to send in an elite force of mercenaries, led by Black Dragon (Kohata Ryu), to get the job done.
REVIEW
A throwback to a glorious age of Hong Kong fighting-babe quickies, Angel Warriors 铁血娇娃 drops five “extreme outdoor female Chinese backpackers” into a jungle “somewhere in Southeast Asia” (aka Thailand) and has them battle it out with a tribe of warrior aboriginals and an elite force of diamond-hunting mercenaries. A quarter of a century ago, it would have starred Yang Panpan 杨盼盼 [Sharon Yeung], Li Saifeng 李赛凤 [Moon Lee], Nishiwaki Michiko 西胁美智子 and Cynthia Rothrock 罗芙洛, with the male side held up by Di Wei 狄威 and Gao Fei 高飞 [Philip Ko]. Today, funded by China money, it stars a cast of Mainlanders, led by actress Yu Nan 余男 and an assortment of actress-models, under a Mainland director and a largely Hong Kong crew, with the serious stuff handled by male martial artists from China (Shi Yanneng 释彦能, aka Shi Xingyu 释行宇), Taiwan (Zou Zhaolong 邹兆龙 [Collin Chou]) and Japan (Kohata Ryu 木幡龙). The times and balance of power have changed but the result remains the same: Angel Warriors knows exactly what it is and, approached on those terms, it’s 90-odd minutes of pure trashy fun.
Shot in the summer of 2011 under the title The Five 五星上将, it was originally intended to be a prestige action outing in 3-D; when the film finally appeared two years later, it rapidly vanished in the box-office rough-and-tumble to become a cult ancillary item for hardcore genre fans. Director Fu Huayang 傅华阳, a onetime martial artist who spent 10 years making commercials before action movies like Kung Fu Hip Hop 精武门 (2008) and No Limit 无极限之危情速递 (2011), reteams here with two Hong Kong veterans, d.p. Kuang Tinghe 邝庭和 (Hip Hop) and writer Xu Shalang 许莎朗 (No Limit), with okay results on the visual side but less happy ones on the script side. Xu is the notable weak link in the line-up of seasoned Hong Kong talent, which includes action director Ma Yucheng 马玉成, editor Mai Zishan 麦子善 [Marco Mak] and art director Li Jingwen 李景文. Her and Fu’s screenplay is hand-me-down nonsense, with a good chunk of it in English (including a pidgeon narration by Shi’s aboriginal character) and too much giggling and screaming by the babes when they should be fighting.
The backpacker group is given some gravitas by Yu, who shot the film during a period of redefining herself as an action heroine (No Man’s Land 无人区, 2013; Wind Blast 西风烈, 2010; The Expendables 2, 2012) after more serious, artier roles. Unlike her co-actresses, she’s believable as an extreme-sport enthusiast but is no martial artist, and when the chips are down she’s too often made to play second fiddle to the likes of Zou (good) and Kohata (generic Japanese baddie). The action comes thick and fast, and is reasonably well staged, though no better than 25 years ago. The use of manga-like inserts in the early going promises a more high-tech movie, and isn’t followed through later on.
The Chinese title literally means “Iron-Blooded Babes”.
CREDITS
Produced by Shanghai Film Group (CN), Shanghai Film Studio (CN), Guangdong Blue Flame Cultural Communication (CN).
Script: Fu Huayang, Xu Shalang. Photography: Kuang Tinghe, Xu Hongbing. Editing: Chen Xiaohong, Mai Zishan [Marco Mak]. Music: Hei Jian. Art direction: Li Jingwen. Styling: Bai Xipo. Sound: Lv Jiajin. Action: Ma Yucheng. Special effects: Chen Junwen.
Cast: Zou Zhaolong [Collin Chou] (Wang Laoying), Yu Nan (Bai Xue), Shi Yanneng (Sen/Sam), An Zhijie [Andy On] (Dennis), Pan Shuangshuang (Ta), Wangdan Yili (Princess Haer), Shi Fanxi (Aliao, Tiger Tribe warrior), Kohata Ryu (Black Dragon), Hu Mengyuan (Yanyan), Wu Jingyi (Tongtong), Wang Qiuzi (Dingdang), Tan Li’na (female assassin).
Release: China, 1 Nov 2013.
(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 10 Jan 2014.)