Black Cat

Black Cat is directed by Stephen Shin and it stars Jade Leung, in her first feature role. This is the Hong Kong "remake" of Luc Besson's classic La Femme Nikita, which is one of the greatest action pieces in the world of cinema. Black Cat fails to be great even though it is made in Hong Kong, where action films are usually unmatchable. Erika/Catherine/Black Cat is a violent young female who goes to jail and has the same offer as in Nikita: to become an assassin to the government. She starts the training and once she's ready and skilled enough, the killings may start. What follows is tired scenes and nothing special in the whole movie.

The action scenes are okay and stylish at times (especially during the credits) but they are so few and can't save the whole film. There is absolutely no depth in the characters (Leung, Simon Yam or others) and the film is pretty irritating to watch because it offers nothing more than just gun fires and action, which are nothing special considered this is made in the land of Woo, Lam, Mak and other great directors.

So I can't recommend this too much but Hong Kong fans will want to check it out and so did I. This could have been far far worse and due to the few stylish scenes and images in the film, it is not too impossible to sit through, and in fact, I've watched this two times now.

4/10

Black Cat (1991) was an unofficial remake of the international French hit "Nikita". Unlike the first film, Black Cat has everything you thought Nikita had (hardcore violence and gritty realism). The film follows a young female drifter (Jade Leung) who gets into trouble whilst in Canada. She's deemed uncontrollable and unfit for society. After a speedy trial she's condemned for life. That's until a suave C.I.A. agent (Simon Yam) gives her a second chance at life, but with brutal consequences.

A dark and dreary film with no light at the end of the tunnel. Jade Leung (a former glamor model) is perfect as the Black Cat. A hit man who has no feelings or emotions, just a tool for the government. But like all machines they break down, will she give into her emotions or will she go through her missions like a good slave? Check out Black Cat!

Highly recommended.

Followed by Black Cat 2: The Assassination of Boris Yeltsin.

Just a fun little note. You have the name of the Actor as the "Groom" wrong. I know, because it's me 😁

I worked a few days as an extra in the film. On the day of the wedding scene, the hired Groom didn't fit the tuxedo. I stepped in and my 1-shot movie career was born! Without even a credit....lol

A Chinese girl who has chip implanted in her brain, and brain washed to be a perfect weapon finds herself loose in America. Much like in Rambo, she finds herself in lot of violent situation and trouble with the locals and the police, She gets picked up by the Chinese agency that did all this to her. She then continues her job as the perfect assassin, and a weapon of destruction.

When I first saw this movie in the '90s, the theme seemed too far fetched. The premise of the story was too far out there for me to relate to. This caused me to lose interest in the story. But now that we know that there really is a super soldier program like this called the MK ULTRA, and it's off shoot the Monarch project conducted by the US (secret) government, I now realize that this movie was actually 15 years ahead of its time.

Like in real life there is no spy like James Bond, who's so visible to the public, there is no super soldier like Hei Mao (Black Cat) in real life. So this movie is like a James Bond version of the MK ULTRA. Even the part that she has a "chip" implanted in her brain is like the real life MK ULTRA soldier Duncan O'Finion. I'd have to applaud the far reaching imagination of the script writers.

The movie is really vividly made with settings done like a real life MK ULTRA soldier might be in. Like she appears in the U.S. as a starters. The story could have taken place 100% in China or Hong Kong, but for some reason the writers chose "America" for the killings to take place. Her mode of operation, her relation to the agency that created her. The way the agency "calls" her to activate her, all are straight out of MK ULTRA.

Was all this a coincidence, or did the writers knew more than they are alluding to in this movie ? With the real life MK ULTRA soldiers coming out nowadays, the (Black) cat is out of the bag.

I'd read several reviews that this was an excellent HK film before I watched it, claiming it was better than the films that inspired it. Well, I have to say, if it is, then I don't want to watch them. The acting was terrible. The pace was slow (compared to what it should have been). The ending was abrupt and I felt like I'd been cheated out of at least 30 minutes more