kluseba This movie came as a huge surprise to me. I actually watched this movie because there was nothing else on television and expected a brutal and modern martial arts movie with a couple of beautiful women that would be rather superficial and more or less entertaining.In fact, there is much more in this feature than raw fights and sex scenes. This movie is almost built up as a touching documentary with some dramatic moments. It tells the story of the so-called China Dolls, young and beautiful killer women of Chinese descent. The movie shows how a pitiless organization convinces poor young girls to come to an isolated island if they don't simply kidnap them. On this island, everybody is brutally shot if one tries to escape and return back home. The movie shows in very raw pictures how the girls become young women and have to kill their yearlong mates in brutal exercises just to survive. The final cage fights are not only extremely bloody but also very touching and make you think a lot about the nature of the human soul. You almost have tears in your eyes when you see how the very few winners of these yearlong abuses, fights and tortures are than poisoned and raped by brutal white men without any emotions. I must warn you that this movie is really tough stuff and should not be watched by younger audiences or soft-heartened people. It's rather difficult to watch for Western audiences and only Asian or those who are used to the more direct Asian cinema might truly appreciate this.The movie portrays more and more the fate of one of these China Dolls and shows her everyday life as a killer once she got out of that terrible island of tortures. The young woman is called Charlene and despite her cruel past, she has kept her soul intact. She developed and beautiful and desperate friendship to Katherine while the last of three surviving female killers called Jing has become one of her worst enemies. Charlene wants to get out of business and her pitiless female boss gives her one last job to do that turns out to be a bloody disaster and deadly trap. Charlene must protect her best friend Katherine, save the life of her mother whom she hasn't seen for many years and falls for a young CIA agent who should normally imprison her but risks his job and his life in order to be with her. On the other side, the pitiless Jing, the evil boss called Madame M and a Yakuza boss that wants to avenge his brother are ready to get her back in trouble.Many critics claim that the movie is very stylish but that the fighting scenes are not always stunning. This movie simply isn't about style and martial arts. These are only two minor elements of the movie. It's not about beautiful woman or exotic locations either. This movie is a raw drama about staying human in inhuman conditions. The film touches profound topics such as family, friendship and love on one side but abuse, hatred and vengeance on the other one and portrays how difficult all these things are to be kept in the balance. With its raw scenes, the somewhat limited story and the only average fighting scenes, the movie might attract a larger audience but reserves enough space to focus on the essential content that turns out to be surprisingly dramatic and philosophical. At the beginning of the movie and by reading popular critics, you won't see this side of the film coming and that's what it makes so outstanding in its simplicity. The movie happens to be extraordinary by not being spectacular. It'an authentic, direct and truly emotional tale about the dark and light sides of life. This movie has loads of elements from different genres to discover and I would certainly watch it again. Don't get fooled by the critics and give this flick a chance no matter if you look for a documentary, a drama, a martial arts movie, a romance or a thriller. This movie is quite diversified and this might be the reason why many people have some issues with it as they might only adore a couple of elements and think these are not always brilliantly executed. If you like all these genres and the movie as a whole, you will though experience an amazing movie you didn't see coming.

BA_Harrison 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!

nomadic-kiwi If you like the Slow-motion, Martial-arts, Asian-action style stuff; then you'll like, maybe even love this film. Otherwise there is much to be desired. The acting especially by Daniel Wu is horrific, the others not that much better, and I really don't like the Shakespearean 'talk to the audience about your thoughts narration' that simply breaks up whatever dramatic or action sequence that is going on.The flash backs of desperation when one of the main characters gets killed at the end is also very clichéd, and downright corny.The sad thing is that it has a promising, brutal, and surprising storyline. Certainly the title is deceiving because fortunately this is no porn flick in the disguise of an action film. The few love scenes are muted and generally in the name of 'duty' - to kill a man at his most vulnerable. If this concept and plot was coupled with good writers, directors and actors, (not to mention budget) it could potentially become the action film of the year or decade. It even has potential to spawn sequels or a series like 'La Femme Nikita' or 'Bond'.Instead the result is a definite 'B' Grade movie that I would recommend any discerning movie goer to avoid.

Rosettes Possible spoiler, anyhow.Sort of Charlie's Angels meets ArchAngel of Airwolf and Sharkey's Machine with shades of La Femme Nikita, Point of No Return (same and different scenes), The Killer, Shiri, Rollerball (1975), and Max Headroom.It's a fun movie and worth a look or two even though at times, things drag a little with lines without acting effort, lack of continuity between the trainers and the trainees, and questionable personalty development or lack of indoctrination of the trainees.Still, the way a lot of scenes were set up and filmed, it is apparent that this is not a cheap movie for great effort was made in getting the message across in the filmography. As far as whether or not it stole from the movies mentioned above (and maybe others for scenes I haven't connected yet), I would say no. Edison said that there were only so many original stories; everything else was a retelling.It's enjoyable provided one doesn't have an exact ruler to judge movies by and therefore, determine their enjoyment of it. If that is the case, then there are noticeable flaws that such a critic would rip the movie apart over.As things go for me, this movie rates 8.9/10. Not a 9 on the first viewing, but it's the kind of movie that wears on the thoughts, and eventually I'll probably go out and buy my own copy for it is like Killing Time (1998). Invulnerable Femme Fatales that are impossibilities, but it is a nice fantasy to get lost in for about 90 minutes.