Yue gui zhi lang (1994) User Reviews

Dreadful film with some terrific fighting

[gridoon2024 · 4/10 · 30 June 2008]

During the first 30 minutes of "Guardian Angel", I kept thinking that this could possibly be Yukari Oshima's worst film - worse even than "Ultracop 2000". After that point, it turns out to be something else entirely - not a Yukari Oshima film after all! She disappears from the screen, never to be seen or heard of again. The rest of the "plot" focuses on three female cops who are operating more like assassins, taking out one criminal after another on their way to "the big boss". Luckily, all three women are surprisingly good fighters (without wanting to overstate things, they're on about the same level as Oshima herself!), and there are some genuinely terrific fight scenes in this movie. Which is the only reason I'm giving it a 4 instead of a 2 out of 10: in most other aspects it is a dreadful mess, incoherently put together, with some totally random (and very explicit) sex scenes and short cameos by Dick Wei and director Phillip Ko. With some effort you could probably extract 10 recommendable minutes out of this movie.

Killing yourself to live

[unbrokenmetal · 5/10 · 4 July 2007]

Even if it says "Yukari Oshima" stars in this picture, and in letters as big as the title, don't get fooled. She appears only in the first 30 minutes, and after that we see the story of 3 other female agents unfold. Most likely this picture was created as a puzzle with parts from at least 3 different movies. What there is of a story continues like this: The 3 female agents I mentioned hunt a drug boss and kill his men ruthlessly, pushed by Chan who hopes to get promoted, he says, and doesn't mind that Rosa, one of the three, is desperate over her killing missions and wants to get out of that mess. In case the gun battles aren't enough to keep you awake, there are several sex scenes in between, more graphic than usual for the genre. To sum up the 85 minutes: there are better films around, but the high speed of the violent action makes sure you won't be bored. So-so.

entertaining no brainer

[exoticafan · 12 July 2005]

Taking various elements from La Femme Nikita, Charlie's Angels and numerous women-in-prison movies, Guardian Angel is a hodge-podge for sure. The film begins with internecine conflicts between Interpol and the Hong Kong police, and throws into the mix three reasonably-hot female agents who are actually assassins. The "plot" follows efforts by Interpol to kill rampant drug lords using the female agents, while Hong Kong police try to intercede. That's it. Think no more about the plot, as it is almost non-stop action and surprisingly explicit nudity (which would probably rate an NC-17). The violent action, while not up to highly technical standards, is still constant. It appears everyone in Manilla and Hong Kong knows karate and carries heavy weaponry! I also guess that this movie is culled from shorter features (possibly a TV series?) as the ending is abrupt, and does not come to a final conclusion (however, the final "shot" should please Charles Bronson fans!) Recommended for the mindless entertainment that it is.