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Black Mask

1999, Movie, R, 96 mins

Black Mask: Review

BLACK MASK
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A bizarre mix of retro-pulp storytelling and sadistic violence, this action thriller is primarily a showcase for Hong Kong action star Jet Li and the martial arts choreography of Yuen Wo Ping, who was responsible for THE MATRIX's astonishing fight scenes. Michael (Jet Li) is a member of a genetically engineered crime fighting squad, the 701 group, created to battle Hong Kong drug lords. Unfortunately, the same physical modifications that make the 701s superhumanly strong and almost impervious to pain also make them mentally unstable, so the project is ordered disbanded. Michael escapes, and hoping to escape his past completely, assumes the identity of a mild-mannered librarian named Simon and keeps to himself. Ironically, his one friend is a police detective (Lau Ching Wan) with whom he plays checkers. Simon is forced to resurrect his old self when someone begins killing drug lords and their minions in horribly brutal ways. Donning a black mask and cap that will be instantly familiar to fans of the old Green Hornet TV series ("Isn't that Kato look kind of a racial stereotype?" one character asks rather pointedly), Simon searches out the killers of the drug lords. He discovers, of course, that they're also awol members of the 701 unit, and include his old girlfriend Kaelin (Francoise Yip). Make no mistake: The martial arts sequences are stunning, Jet Li has star quality to spare and the movie is breathtakingly beautiful, in a kinky, comic-book kind of way. But the story is kind of goofy and childish, except when it's unbelievably vicious. Who'd take a kid to a movie in which a drug dealer gets a warning from his enemies in the form of his six-year-old daughter's legs in a box, complete with ankle socks and Mary Janes? leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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