Black Cat

(1991) The Black Cat (In Chinese with English subtitles) ACTION

Inspired by Luc Besson's "La Femme Nikita" but in it's own unique kind of way starring Jade Leung who after going through an abusive environment starting with an assault by a trucker before making her life even worst for herself as soon as she crazily accidentally shoots a cop dead. She eventually gets picked up by an gov't organization where she along with others are being trained as assassins to execute specific people with a controlled chip installed in their heads called the "Black Cat" with only a one kind of pill to soothe their frequent headaches. This is the Chinese equivalent version of "La Femme Nikita" and is very entertaining since it's unique and not like a direct frame by frame copy of it's predecessor like "Point Of No Return"! A sequel was made called "The Black Cat II: The Assassination Of Boris Yeltsin" which is more action oriented.

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

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

I am not following the voting crowd on this film. I loved it as much as the original-Nikita. I just have a thing for films where women take a hit and keep coming. If more women were like Black Cat men would think twice about abusing them. This movie is continual action. And unlike Nikita the action is even more violent. Cat is almost scary in her quest to reach her objective. If you like full on action, I highly recommend it. This is better than any of that Cynthia Rothrock stuff; and I like her for what she does.

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.