Kuro no tenshi Vol. 1

I saw this movie at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival (like another IMDB user, apparently) and fell in love with it. I had already been charmed by Riona Hazuki in Parasite Eve, and was delighted to see her in this role. The characters of Zill (Dye-blonde blonde breakdance fighting companion) and Mayo (big time femme fatale with experience, guess what her name stands for) remind me of quirky one shot characters in a detective manga, something that translates surprizingly well to the big screen.

This is an action filled story about a girl seeking revenge for her family, but in parts comes off as more of a dark comedy. Takashi toys around with many old cliches, combining them with his original ideas to create a memorable mix of drama and humor. If you can find this movie, by all means see it... and send a copy my way.

A nice memory of my teenage life when I saw this film on TV with my friends

Black Angel is very dark thrilling

But also exiting feeling, one didn't know what will happen for poor Ikko and her quest to find her identity or who killed her family.

But there are some awkward scenes and some scenes are too violent

but however there are some nice moment too, like when Ikko dance with her friend.

Bevare of some violent scenes for sensitive viewers but for those who love action films and thrillers is a must see

This is a film about 3 women who are all inextricably linked together. Taken from her mother at birth the first woman named "Ikko Amaoka" (Riona Hazuki) watches as her grandfather and bodyguards are all shot in front of her when she is only 6 years old. She is saved by the second female who is a Yakuza assassin by the name of "Mayo" (Reiko Takashima) who is also known as "the Black Angel". Knowing that there is no safe place in Japan for the little girl, Mayo arranges transportation for Ikko to Los Angeles where she is cared for until she is 20 years old. At that time Ikko returns to Japan with the intent to kill all of those responsible for the murder of her family which includes the 3rd woman, "Chiaki Amaoka" (Miyuki Ono) who also happens to be her step-sister. Now, initially this was somewhat difficult to understand because of the fast-paced violence combined with the language barrier. However, as the movie continues it eventually explains itself and all of the pieces of the puzzle come together at the very end. At any rate, those who enjoy action movies will probably like this film. Be advised though that there is quite a bit of violence along with some sex and nudity as well. Overall, I rate the film as slightly above average.

Takashi Ishii's Kuro No Tenshi is a good action film but borrows too many themes and ideas from better movies such as La Femme Nikita, Leon:The Professional and Naked Killer. Reona Hazuki is perfectly cast as Ikko, the child turned cold-blooded assassin who is out to revenge the murder of her Yakuza father. Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi is 'Jil' her Japanese-American companion who helps her on her mission and steals the movie with his street dancing moves and peculiar Japanese-English mixed-up dialog. Ishii seems to borrow a lot from the Hong Kong school of gunplay action which keeps the movie interesting but the story and plot drag at times and there are many odd moments of fancy such as Ikko and Jil's dancing sequence in a hotel room which seem a bit out of place but I guess breaks the gloomy and tense atmosphere of the story. Viewers may recoil at a couple of scenes but the movie is very tame when compared to movies such as the Killer or Hard Boiled. Tenshii is an interesting entry from Ishii who has a unique flair for visuals and style but it isn't the best of the genre.

Indeed a nice vengeance flick, the director made it possible to make it interesting, stylish and very cold. The story is quite simple and not very fresh, but the style and strong violence (strong in my eyes cause it's against a woman) plus good camera work and very cold pictures make it a bit more special than a lot of the other Japanese movies. It reminds me of the earlier movie GONIN, witch is at any rate commendable if you liked the BLACK ANGEL and of course takeshi kitano). I've now seen a few of his films (ishii) and have to say that he's a good director in my eyes, but don't match to make every film interesting. I like his cold depressing style, but he's not a very good story teller. If you like the vengeance theme and the described style than you've got to check it out.