Black Cat II (1992)

Dickson Phoon's D&B movies made series of good movies in the '90s. D&B and Media Asia was definitely a player back then. You could always count on quality entertainment from these two companies that brought something different from the well established Golden Harvest, and too old school Shaw Brothers. Loss of these two companies were definitely a loss not only for Hong Kong, but for the entire world. This movie, like other D&B's creation is high quality, and has smartness to its production.Huk Mao or Hei Mao (Black Cat) returns this time to stab and kill Boris Yeltsin. Huk Mao is definitely a Chinese version of MK ULTRA super soldier.It would be a real gas if Dickson Phoon was an Illuminati, and all the writers worked for him getting information from the "source", and Jade Leung really is a victim of Project Monarch (for what MK Ultra, and Project Monarch is, just Google these two terms and you'll get much information about the mind control and the super soldier program). In any case, Dickson, if you're reading this, consider bringing D&B back on line again, and give us another dose of high quality entertainment. Us fans of D&B movies will all appreciate that.

Though often likened to the French film, "La Femme Nikita", this second installment of the Black Cat series offers much more action, excitement, and overall enjoyability. Whereas Nikita was simply trained to be an assassin, in Black Cat 2, Erika comes across as having more similarities to the cyborg villain in the Terminator. Most notable are the Black Cat's point-of-view shots. Rather than presenting a human gaze of the world, Erica's vision is presented as something like a computer screen, or surveillance camera. Also, her emotionless composure and mechanical chip implants make her much less human than La Femme Nikita.Although the story takes place in America and Russia (never in Hong Kong), the version I viewed was dubbed entirely in Cantonese. This produced a rather jarring viewing experience since most of the cast was white. Still, there are a bunch of memorable sequences, such as one involving a snowy mountain, and another in a machine shop, which make Black Cat 2 a very fulfilling movie.

"Black Cat II" is an uneven sequel to the modest 1991 Hong Kong hit. Jade Leung returns in the title role: she looks good, plays the emotionless assassin perfectly and is in good physical shape, but much of her fighting and stuntwork appear to be wire-enhanced, which (for me at least) spoils the effect. Robin Shou is quite a handsome guy in his own right, but the script doesn't give him much to do - he has only two brief fight scenes. The plot of the movie is uninteresting and often laughable. For example, the Black Cat (who is more or less like a cyborg here) accidentally kills an innocent woman in front of many witnesses, but we only see the event referenced once on the news - nobody seems to mind that she isn't arrested after that. There are also some sci-fi elements here: the villains take strange radioactive pills that enhance their physical powers, and the Black Cat can sense this radioactivity from miles away. At one (low) point, the film even demonstrates that her mind and hands really ARE quicker than a bullet! And, like another reviewer said, the dubbing of EVERYONE (including Americans and Russians) into Chinese pretty much destroys the credibility of the movie. (**)

Black Cat 2: The Assassination of Boris Yeltsin (1992) chronicles the further exploits of the C.I.A. assassin the Black Cat. Jade Leung reprises her role whilst Stephen Shin is also back behind the camera. Action star Robin Shou co-stars as the Black Cat's new partner. The Black Cat is wheeled into action as she has a new assignment. She has to travel to Russia and protect their new leader from a devious assassination plot. The new program inserted into the Black Cat is supposed to be new and improved. Sadly, she's just a cypher now who as no emotions and only cares about one thing, finishing her assignment. Her lack of feelings even scares Robin Shou as he tries to befriend her. Can the two protect the Russian president or will they fail miserably and leave the former Soviet country in chaos?A passable sequel to the first film. Jade Leung is very creepy as the Black Cat. Robin Shou gets a chance to show off his skills. The movie's plot is very dated but it's an entertaining movie that doesn't fail to deliver the goods.Recommended for fans of the first film.