Sip si 32 dou

This is certainly one of the best made girl-assassin films that have formed a genre of their own in Asia over the past 30 years. Conforming to the conventions of the genre, we have an attractive young woman whose early experiences have led her to adopt the life of a cold-blooded killer for hire; we have her gradually grow aware of her own emotional emptiness; we have her meet a man she could really go for if she didn't always have to remain ready to kill just about anybody; we have the betrayal by one of her few trusted associates; and we see her develop a plan for resolving all the dilemmas these situations present her with. In short, very little new in the story.

What's new is the manner in which it is all handled. The girl-assassin genre picture is typically handled in a rather over-the-top action film style, because the basic premise of the genre is really pure fantasy. I'm not saying there aren't female assassins in real-life; but they certainly don't share either the luxurious payoffs, the existential dread, or the romantic longings that we find in girl-assassin movies. In fact they're lives are probably little different from that of the male mob or government killer. We just want them to be different because they're women; and the girl-assassin film plays to this.

The present film certainly starts off in this direction, but very gradually, but at last inevitably, turns our expectations on their head. The guy our girl-assassin falls in love with here isn't very smart, but he is certainly very ordinary. The big-pay-offs for her killing never seem to bring her any luxury. And her romantic longings are doomed about half-way through the picture when she has to shoot a five-year-old girl who has witnessed one of her hits - and does. From this point on, we know she's doomed; she may never be caught or killed, but she can never live with herself after this.

Along with these twists undercutting genre convention and audience expectations, the film's visual style also gradually becomes increasingly realistic as it goes along. At the end, we're no longer in the same glitzy universe most girl-assassins inhabit, but a dead-end street looking very much like one we might ourselves wander down, but for the grace of whatever divinity watching out for us.

But there's no divinity watching after this film's girl-assassin. And the ending is probably the most down-beat of any film in the genre. But it is perfectly true to the situation.

Very dramatic, well-performed, nicely put-together - but, be warned: very depressing.

One can't be convinced that Wu Chien-lien, a woman with a body temperature of only 32 degrees Celsius, is actually a merciless assassin! How unfortunate that the filmmakers missed their chance of exploring the interesting implications of a person with a body temperature five degrees lower than everyone else and who only has a one-in-a-million chance of survival. Superficial as it is, the film is both alienating and romantic. Its most intriguing parts are the romance between Wu, the female assassin, and Lau, the noodle-seller, conducted in the tradition of a "midnight love affair with a beautiful ghost", and Wu's persistence in finding her roots.

For a movie centered around some really well down action sequences, this movie has a good deal of emotional depth. It goes for that La Femme Nikita style of making an assassin both lethal and fascinating but trapped and vulnerable. It is fascinating to see this killer's growing attachment to a simple noodle shop owner, and the movie does a good job of balancing its blood with its heart, supplying both exciting and touching moments.

But the movie also feels like it cut corners and it relies to much on movie romance clichés. Noodle shop guy's actions towards the end make utterly no sense based on what has happened so far, making the final, fascinating scene feel contrived. Even the hypothermia concept feels like it is just sort of tossed in there because it's a cool idea but then never used for anything in particular. I would not be surprised if I learned the script had half an hour of plot and character development chopped for pacing, as that would explain a lot.

This is a very good movie, and I took a while to decide whether to give it a 7 or an 8, but it gets a 7 because it just feels like corners were cut and the movie was not what it might have been. But well worth seeing.

To paraphrase the great Sam Fuller, if an action film does not grab its audience in the first few minutes, forget it. Director Patrick Leung and screenwriter Roy Szeto certainly subscribe to that school of thought in "Sip si 32 doe," a surprisingly good action film that has some heart, too.

Of course, the plot, like in many a Hong Kong actioner, is a bit of a stretch. A Cambodian assassin with an unusually chilly body temperature doesn't remember her past, wants to break free of her manipulative aunt and find herself a normal life.

But "Sip si 32 doe" works because it's purely an action film and proves it in style. When it comes to choreographing action sequences, Hong Kong filmmakers are in a class of their own and their styles certainly have influenced Hollywood action films. It's a shame when these filmmakers are wooed by Hollywood, as John Woo, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark were, the studios promptly rein them in and they wind up making clunkers. Either that, or these filmmakers seem to lose their edge. I'd like to believe it's the former.

Leung fills "Sip si 32 doe" with visceral moments. There's a chase through a busy street that would never have been filmed with such ruthlessness in Hollywood. The denouement is a thing of beauty. Most American action films could be this entertainingly good if only producers and directors had some imagination and guts.

Leung, a John Woo protégé, starts his film off nicely and then promptly sets the tone for his heroine as we see her go after her first mark. She's cold, calculated and, yet, charming, too. While Leung and Szeto show us details of her modus operandi - they way she quickly changes bullets to improvise or how she cautiously prepares to sleep every night, for instance - they also care deeply about this woman to let us into her life.

As chillingly lethal as the assassin is, Wu Chien-lien brings a sweet innocence to the role. This child-woman's got heart and we wind up caring about her. Her hits are carried out with heartless precision - there's an especially unsettling moment during one hit - but there's still something extremely likable about this woman. There's a wonderful scene of unadulterated joy as she photographs herself. It's Wu Chien-lieu's tremendous charm that makes us completely forget what her character does for a living.

Leung and Szeto try to offset their heroine's darker side by giving her a chance at normalcy with a noodle shop owner, Long Shek (Lau Cheng Wan). This makes for some cheesy moments in the film - Hong Kong actioners have never quite mastered the art of mixing real romance with the gunplay. The problem is that Long Shek isn't a finely defined character. He's there for just one reason and his character's not explored deeply. When Leung and Szeto try to inject some depth into Long Shek at the end, it seems thoroughly out of place. And Han Sang-Woo overplays his role as the vengeful Yichin. He's a handsome chap, but his character's way too wound up to be taken seriously.

But its flaws notwithstanding, "Sip si 32 doe," under the skilled direction of Leung, is a grand addition to the genre and proof that Hong Kong action films can have substance. It's also a heckuva lot more fun than the similarly themed "La Femme Nikita" (1990) or its American knockoff "Point of No Return" (1993).

This typical and yet unusual action film from Hong Kong belongs to the finest of its genre. It boosts breathtaking action, great drama and a catching story about a female killer, much more convincing than in the (theoretically comparable) much weaker "Naked Killer".

Outstanding cinematography add to the haunting atmosphere, and a strong melancholy touch makes the film even more impressive. Not to forget the splendidly choreographed action sequences that are staged like they do it only in Asia.

Easily on par with any of John Woo's masterly Hong Kong movies, this one is a must see for all admirers of Asian cinema and action in general.