Japanese powerhouse Yukari Oshima stars in this pretty routine action film that, like most others of this era, has some pretty nifty fight scenes.
Oshima plays Cynthia, a Japanese policewoman on vacation in Hong Kong visiting her mother. That is, until her superiors tell her of a mission that she will have to take in Hong Kong. Women have been mysteriously disappearing and are link to a prostitution ring believed to led by Triad boss Ma (Chen Kuan-Tai), whom Cynthia’s mom works for.
However, while Ma keeps his business mainly on the down low, his right hand man Wong has plans to take over Ma’s business. When he kidnaps a young woman named Brenda at the airport, Brenda was able to reach her brother Jerry, a former Triad enforcer who decides to go on a mission of his own to save his sister. Meanwhile, Cynthia is teamed up with a local policewoman, Karen, to find out the ones responsible for the kidnappings. What will happen should Cynthia and Jerry’s paths cross?
From director Godfrey Ho comes this routine action thriller that capitalizes on the Girls with Guns genre of Hong Kong action filmmaking. Unlike his usual cut-and-paste action films, Ho goes full out with this film. With the dynamic Yukari Oshima leading the way as Cynthia. In the Philippines, Oshima was known as “Cynthia Luster”, which explains why her character is named as so in the English dub print.
Dick Wei brings an anti-hero in the mix as ex-Triad boy Jerry, who decides the only way to rescue his sister is to go back to the life he once knew. Wei is an amazing fighter on screen and this proves no different. Philip Ko oozes scumbag in his role of Wong, the evil right hand to Chen Kuan-Tai’s good natured boss Ma. Wong has two enforcers of his own, who look like a ripped-off cross of Jaws from James Bond and rap star Flava Flav.
Loads of kickboxing style action dominate the fight scenes when there aren’t guns ablaze. The team of Daai Wai, James Ha, and Ridley Tsui handled the fight scenes very well. Oshima, Wei, Ko, and even Ha Chi-Chun (who is best known for her role as a guerilla in Eastern Condors (1987)) get in on some nice action. There are some insane stunts as well including Wei’s Jerry jumping off a ledge in a garage and lands on top of a car. It looked like it hurt!
Angel’s Mission is a simple routine action film, but a fun one thanks to its nicely shot fight choreography, which just made Yukari Oshima one of the top female action stars of the early 1990’s.
WFG RATING: B-
A Molesworth Limited Production. Director: Philip Ko. Writer: Edward Leung. Cinematography: Cheung Hoi. Editing: Vincent Leung.
Cast: Yukari Oshima, Dick Wei, Philip Ko, Ha Chi-Chun, Chen Kuan-Tai, Sin Do-Laai.
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