| Beginning
with a savage murder and gang rape, Body Weapon (1999) seeks
to combine psycho-thriller, romantic drama and martial arts
action into a provocative 90 minutes. Chiu Man Chuk follows
up The Black Sheep Affair (1998) as one of two Hong Kong detectives
in love with the same woman, Ling (Angie Cheung). The urgent
need to solve the introductory crime is soon forgotten while
the romance is settled and Ling marries the lead's best friend.
That said friend predictably ends up dead; less obviously
the "heroine" deals with being raped by taking some
very strange lessons in revenge from an unhinged transvestite.
Both the psychology and plot mechanics of what follows are
unbelievable at any level, the outrageous finale even translating
Ripley's disrobing at the end of Alien in the most misogynistic
of situations. The identity and motivation of the chief rapist/killer
make no sense in relation to what has gone before and for
a Hong Kong crime film there is very little action. The best
that can be said is the stars give as good a performance as
they can from very poorly conceived and exploitative material.
The following year Chiu Man Chuk reunited with director Aman
Chang for the action comedy Fist Power which was much better
received.
Write
an online review and share your thoughts with other shoppers!
|
