Silver Hawk

Asia doesn't have many bona-fide superheroes in their fantastic fiction; they tend to have kung fu masters and such, but apart from Black Mask (which was very mediocre) I don't think I've seen any other real Asian superhero movies except for this one; Silver Hawk. It is a true combo of kung fu and super-heroics, as the main character, Lulu Wong (Michelle Yeoh), has excelled in the martial arts since childhood and have found a way to use her martial arts for the good of all society as the silver-costumed hero Silver Hawk.

The movie takes place in the future, where they have holographic mahjong and some brand-new mind-reading devices. Stylistically, everything is entirely kept in ice-blue glass and metal, which all looks sleek and cool, but also rather cold and inhuman.

A human dimension is added, however, in the childhood flashbacks, where a lot of connections are drawn to Silver Hawk's adult life. For instance, the reason she wears a mask is because she did so as a kid, too, to disguise her identity when she was kung fu brawling in defiance of her teachers' orders. This cross-time dimension with her childhood works very well indeed, also because she runs into her childhood friend again as an adult, his having become a police chief. Initially he wants to catch Silver Hawk, but as soon as he finds out who she is, he starts working with her.

The bad guy (supervillain, really), Fire Wolf, is quite dull, and his plan not very well described. There are a couple of plot holes in the story, too, and while the action is pretty good, the fighting isn't spectacular. But still a relatively good and watchable movie. I rate it a 6 out of 10.

I'm very interested in movies that combine kung fu and science fiction. My list so far includes Silver Hawk, Avenging Fist, Jet Li's The One, and, of course, the Matrix Trilogy, and Equilibrium. And also, Star Wars, sort of, since the Jedi abilities are a form of martial arts... I hope to discover more movies with kung fu and sci-fi combined.

In this movie, Michelle Yeoh plays Lulu Wong, a much-idolised rock star and philanthropist by day, and a super heroine, Silver Hawk, who fights injustice in skin-tight black leather outfit as her alter-ego. Richie Ren plays police detective Richman, who has an uncanny instinct and incredible wit, but he hates Silver Hawk for being always two steps ahead of the police. Both of them, however join hands to fight a baddie, Wolfe (Luke Goss) who wants to dominate the world through a special microchip in mobile phones which will broadcast subliminal message to users.

Directed by cinematographer-turned-director Jingle Ma (Hot War, Tokyo Raiders, Summer Holiday, Goodbye,Mr.Cool and Para Para Sakura), the action scenes are beautifully choreographed, especially the one where a group of bungee jumpers armed with hockey sticks attacking our heroine in an outdoor arena. The opening sequence is also awesome with Yeoh riding a motorcycle and jumping over the Great Wall of China. There's also ample use of CGI to enhance the action sequences throughout the movie. Although the script is pretty straight forward, Ma succeeds in presenting the story in an entertaining way with constant flashbacks to the past when Lulu and Richman were studying at a Shaolin Temple. The two kids who play them are excellent, especially the boy.

Yeoh is a delight to watch. She looks great in her well-designed outfits and executes her fighting scenes with style and finesse. Her experience in martial arts helped tremendously. Providing comic relief is Brandon Chang, who plays a computer whiz kid who constantly pops up to annoy Richie Ren. Wolfe's role was downplayed. Instead his two assassins played by Bingbing Li and Michael Jai White (Universal Soldier: The Return and Spawn) got most of the action. Surprisingly, both of them had no dialogue in the movie.

Nonetheless, Silver Hawk is an entertaining movie which promises good laughs and visual delights for this Lunar New Year.

I wasn't expecting much after Michelle Yeoh's last flop "the Touch". "Silver Hawk" doesn't have such a great story, but the action scenes were really well done. the part where Yeoh flew over the Great Wall with her motorcycle was particularily amazing. Jingle Ma once again proves his talent as an action movie director a few years after "Tokyo Raiders" (skip "Goodbye Mister Cool" and "Para Para Sakura" unless you're really desperate). Another good reason to go see "Silver Hawk" is the absence of Ekin Cheng from the cast. That guy seems to star in too many HK movies since the mid 1990s. Worth mentioning is "Yin Xiong"'s Chen Daoming, who delivers a great performance. "Silver Hawk" is by far the most successful HK attempt at adapting a comic superhero to the big screen after "Hak Hap" and the mediocre "Hak Hap 2: City of Masks". Just for that I would give it a 7/10.

I've been a fan of Michelle Yeoh ever since I saw 'Supercop' a few years ago. In fact, having not previously heard of 'Silver Hawk', I bought it based solely on the fact that Michelle Yeoh was featured on the cover in a kick-arse pose. I regret nothing.

Lulu Wong (Michelle Yeoh) is a Hong Kong celebrity who happens to have a secret: She is the masked super-hero Silver Hawk. Silver Hawk just happens to be in the neighbourhood whenever there is trouble ('neighbourhood' can refer to a Hong Kong alley, the Great Wall of China, etc). The Hong Kong police are out to catch Silver Hawk, as it seems she's been making them look like fools. I don't see what the problem is: if I was a Hong Kong cop, I'd sit back and let her do all the work, and I'd be paid to do nothing. Coincidentally, the new police superintendent Richman (Richie Ren) happen's to be a childhood friend of Lulu's - they were orphans together at the Shaolin temple (really, how can a crime-fighter be taken seriously if they haven't studied at the Shaolin temple?).

Meanwhile, Professor Chung (Daming Chen) publicly shows off his latest: invention: an AI chip that can scan a person's body, and then decide (better than the person themselves) what is good for them. The Professor doesn't quite understand why the AI chip is poorly received by the crowd, until he runs into trouble with Alexander Wolfe (Luke Goss) an English pop star turned super villain. Wolfe's sinister scheme is to combine the chip with the latest in mobile phone technology, so he can brainwash the population, unless Silver Hawk can stop him.

'Silver Hawk' is a bit odd for a kung-fu film. It is sleek but silly, occasionally suffers from an awkward imbalance between a serious and silly tone, and then switches from reality to over the top super-heroics. Sure, these are characteristics found frequently in Hong Kong kung-fu movies, but 'Silver Hawk' seems a bit different. I can't quite put my finger on it. It is fun, but it seems like HK cinema borrowing from 'The Matrix' (rather than 'The Matrix' borrowing from HK cinema).

'Silver Hawk' features some pretty cool action scenes, namely Michelle taking on villains on bungee cords, or an evil in-line hockey team. The fights are generally fun (I'll get to those in a minute). A lot of the comedy and character interaction - especially between Michelle and Richie - seemed rather awkward, but it was entertaining anyway. I think the main strength of 'Silver Hawk' is that it looked like Michelle was having a lot fun filming. I mean, she got to play with Batman-esquire Hawk-erangs - who wouldn't have with those?

I mentioned the fight scenes being fun to watch. Conversely, they also present one of the film's weaknesses: 'Silver Hawk' goes for too much of flashy, Hollywood look. It looks sleek, but I couldn't help but think that it could have been done better. The villains were generally unimposing and uninteresting, and the story could have been better polished.

'Silver Hawk' may not be the best super-hero, or kung-fu, or Michelle Yeoh movie around, but take it for what it is: a fan way to kill time. Recommended for fans of Michelle Yeoh - 6/10

SILVER HAWK (3 outta 5 stars)

Pretty decent action-hero yarn starring Michelle Yeoh as the title character... who dresses up in a silver coat and mask and goes around beating up bad guys and making the police look bad. She meets up with a childhood sweetheart who now happens to be in charge of a police task force devoted to putting a stop to her vigilante tactics. They are forced to team up to fight a madman with a plan to take over the world with some mind-altering telephone technology. The story is pretty standard... but the stunts and fights (which are very reminiscent of The Matrix and Tomb Raider movies) are fun. I was glad to see that, while the movie does have lots of humour, the movie is not too "camp". Fun for the whole family!