Fatal

Naked Weapon, from prolific writer/producer Wong Jing and director Siu-Tung Ching, is one of the most preposterous films that I have seen in a long time. It is also one of the most consistently entertaining.

Madame M (Almen Wong) is the head of an organisation that provides sexy assassins for hire. When an operative is killed, she abducts a large number of pretty teenage girls (all of whom are adept at fighting) and takes them to a remote island where they are trained for six years to become ruthless killers (special move: sever the spine with finger tips and remove several vertebrae!).

At the end of their gruelling training, the girls are pitted against each other in duels to the death. The last three alive are then given the opportunity to work for Madame M in exchange for their eventual freedom.

Hong Kong hotties Maggie Q, Anya, and Jewel Lee play the film's ridiculously attractive final trio of killers, and fans of slick, sexy action should not be disappointed: director Siu-Tung Ching delivers loads of high-kicking martial arts action scenes (thoughtfully shot in slow motion so as to give male viewers even longer to ogle the stars' bodies as they perform all manner of acrobatic moves); there are gratuitous bloody gun fights in which the gals sport teensy outfits; and we even get a couple of steamy sex scenes (Maggie Q kindly gets 'em out for the lads!).

It is true that this is a dumb, trashy, sexist, and brutally violent movie—an exercise in style over content which lacks convincing acting and a decent plot. But who cares, when you've got stunning visuals, a touch of gore, crazy Matrix-style fight scenes, and, towards the end, quite a bit of audacious wire-work (at one point, Charlene ends up balanced on one leg atop a bad guy's head)? Certainly not me!

It's a sad day when Hong Kong action films are copying stuff made in other countries. The people who created the action film genre should know better...

This film screams of rip-off. From La Femme Nikita, Battle Royale, and Leon, scenes, elements, and even exact dialogue were stolen. From training women to be sexy assassins (Nikita) to having them fight it out to see who survives and becomes the "chosen one" (Battle Royale), to the cheesy sledge hammer to the wall only to make a hole large enough for one of us to fit scene (Leon).

And over/bad acting. I guess that's what happens when you get Asian models to play lead roles. Maggie Q is hot, no doubt, but she and everyone else in the cast could use an acting lesson or two. And the director might want to brush up on his English. Bad dialogue and delivery suck in any language... even if its your second or third. Not even the sneezes in the back of the truck were believable. I've seen better acting in a hardcore porn movie. Jenna Jameson's got more skills even when getting drilled by 2 dudes at once.

Truly disappointing.

That pretty much sums up my experience with "Naked Weapon." This film is, for the most part, a fun amalgamation of "Battle Royale," modern day Hong Kong action, and Crown International-Roger Corman Chicks-with-guns B-movie super-trash Drive-in insanity. But there is a particularly despicable scene depicting gang-rape about a third of the way through that pushes the movie over the edge into the "unwatchable garbage" arena. It's like something out of a bad, misogynistic Seventies porn flick--and I have the distinct feeling that the Americanized version I saw was softened from it's original form. It's a real shame--cos I like goofy trash. I just don't like rape.

What can I say about this movie. It was recommended to me by a friend with a warning: don't take it seriously. And he was right. This is a very entertaining movie if you can get past some very serious flaws, like an extremely bad script and some lousy acting.

What was good about the film: The soundtrack was very good and supported the movie well. The overall story was rather good and interesting. The women were beautiful and sexy. The fight scenes were superb - a little over the top, but still nicely done. Besides, the concept "hot women using their bodies as weapons" is really cool.

What was bad about the film: The acting leaves a lot to be desired in many occasions. The script was lousy, sometimes even stupid. The love story was badly portrayed and it was a bit out of place.

To sum it up: This movie is not Oscar material, you won't be thinking about it afterwards and it's not going to be in your list of all time favourites. Still, it's an action packed, highly entertaining film that will provide for a pleasant evening. I give it 7 out of 10.

The plot of Naked Weapon is not too bad, but the way it is ultimately presented leaves a lot to be desired. The pacing is dreadful, scenes are arranged haphazardly, and far, far more could have been done with the interesting premise. Most of the dialogue is really terrible.

However, even with all the shortcomings of the script, the movie is saved by its stylism. The action is pretty good, and while the characters obviously don't actually hit each other, their moves and speed are absolutely incredible and breathtaking. The acting is pretty good, too.

All in all, a highly entertaining package filled with sexy girls kicking ass. It's not as good as So Close, though.

7 out of 10.