Tian shi te jing

Not to be confused with Moon Lee films, Mission Of Justice, Mission Of Condor or anything else, Angel Force was just one of 15 titles starring the amazing Miss Lee over a 3 year period in the early 90's...

Director Hua Shan delivers a modest attempt at cashing in on the Angels franchise with this average action flick from the early 90's, with superstar Moon Lee sporting a new haircut (for the first 20 minutes) that makes her look like a 14 year old boy! Shan spent many years as a director for the mighty Shaw Brothers delivering great titles such as Super Inframan, Flying Guillotine 2, and Little Dragon maiden with Leslie Cheung. He is joined by Tony Liu Jun Guk, director of Holy Virgin Versus The Evil Dead, Devil Hunters, and Dreaming The Reality as well as a number of other Moon Lee projects.

While the film opens in Hong Kong and gets straight into the action, it does take a while for Angel Force to start getting interesting. Up to then, the fights seem bland, and actors look bored. Thankfully, around 30 minutes in, cops Lee and Yam head off to Burma and things start picking up...

Hong Kong movie veteran and Peking Opera School classmate to the Three Dragons, the often-forgotten Yuen Bun looks after the action and fight choreography. While not as exciting or powerful as that in the Iron Angels series, Bun still manages to keep things moving between motorbike chases, gun-play, and plenty of martial arts action. Once in Burma, it doesn't take long for Wilson Lam to get shot, thankfully putting him out of the picture while he heals. I'm not a huge fan of his acting, and once gone, the show is all Moon's which is all for the better, letting Moon Lee do what she does best - and kick some ass!

Even though it tries to combine the best from all of the original Iron Angels between its office blocks and cityscape, to the jungles of Burma, and has an extra big baddie in he shape of Wang Lung Wei, Angel Force is bland in comparison in many departments. The action is pretty much non-stop from before the half-way line, with the most of it being gun-play and explosions, so when a bit of hand-to-hand comes about, it makes a bit of an impact (but just a bit)...

The big finale takes place back in Hong Kong, with some nice choreography, stunt work and moves as Moon and Wilson take on Shing Fui On and Jimmy Lee in a fight to the death!

Overall: Worth a watch for Moon Lee, Angel Force is entertaining enough, but there's much better out there...

A police officer (Hong Kong action star Moon Lee) goes on a rescue mission to Thailand, but unexpectedly finds that the villain behind the crime is someone she thought she could trust.

From concrete jungle to the real jungle, this HK actioner features the usual well-staged fights, gun battles and some twist and turns. A girl-on-girl battle between Moon Lee and assassin Fujimi Nadeki is a highlight. Fight wise, Moon Lee is at her kinetic best, however the story is a bit confusing and flat, plus I didn't like the fact that Benny, the loose cannon, whom Lee and her partner (Wilson Lam) recruit for their special op attempts to rape a captive and later saves Moon life by killing her is a bit morally dubious as he's now seen as a chivalrous hero. It could have done well without this trashy segment. A protagonist can have grey shades and be ruthless, but there's a line he shouldn't cross, and this character did just that.

Wilson Lam and Moon Lee are the heads of a rescue mission to Burma. When Wilson is shot and almost killed in an ambush, Moon and the rest of the team must complete the mission on their own - and find a possible traitor within the police force.

"Angel Force" opens with a bang (there is shooting and fighting even before the credits), and pretty much stays that way to the end. The setting changes from urban to jungle and back again, but the action rarely lets up and the plot and humor are kept to a minimum. Moon Lee, sporting a slightly boyish haircut, tones down her cuteness (as much as possible; after all, she is cute by default), and plays it serious and mean; in one fantastic moment, she points her gun to a bad guy's head and you expect her to knock him out or start questioning him. But no, she just blows his brains out without mercy! And then she proceeds to have a great (if short) fight with the ice-cold killer Fujimi Nadeki. The fights in "Angel Force" are not overly fancy - mostly just brutal kickboxing. And there are quite a few of them. Definitely one of her best films, as well as one of her easiest to find, there's no reason not to add it in your Moon Lee collection. (***)