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Black Mask

Black Mask

List Price: $9.98
Your Price: $9.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Black Mask
Review: I find it amusing that some people thought this movie was violent, and reccomending it for age groups, etc. If these people had seen half the films that are out there, as well as the world that is out there, they'd think twice about blindfolding their children to the reality of the world before exposing them to it when it is too late. As for the movie, it really is weak and not too good to follow. The movies that Jet Li are starring in with American(ized) film crews are pretty much inane fighting and no storylines. Some of Jet Li's best work can be seen in the Cantonese/Mandarin versions of Once Upon a Time in China as well as a few of his prior work with the HK Film Industry. The background music on the track is pretty much horrible, as it tends to drown out some of the speech (I was viewing with a 5.1 system) and it throws the mood of the movie off pace. I've seen a great deal of Li Lian Jie (Lee Lin Kit)'s movies, and this is one of the worst I've seen so far. I'd reccomend watching any of the Wong Fey Hong movies he stars in, they're some of the best out there. I wonder if this movie reminded anyone else of the old TV series "Zorro".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Amazing Jet Li but violent
Review: BLACK MASK showcases Jet Li after his scene-stealing appearance in LETHAL WEAPON 4. The movie is shot as a violent and bloody new-Hong Kong music video but is worth it for martial arts fans.Jet Li moves faster than Bruce Lee! You haven't seen anyone like him before. I would not recommend it for under 13 years old (and I'm pretty liberal...I let my 9 year old see the Terminator).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: well its better than the sequel
Review: Yes this movie is better than the sequel which was black mask 2 city of masks. And jet li does a decent job in the movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A film so good it could only have been made in Hong Kong
Review: Sometimes I wonder why American studios even try to make action-packed martial arts thrillers; they just cannot compete with the great films churned out by Hong Kong studios. Black Mask is an underappreciated, high octane, exhilarating motion picture. How could it not be, as it combines the untouchable martial arts skills of Jet Li, the directorial genius the great Tsui Hark, the fight choreography of the renowned Yuen Woo Ping, the comparatively high Hong Kong budget of ten million dollars, and virtually nonstop action? Granted, the film was given an audio makeover on its way to America, but the dubbing is very well done and the hip-hop soundtrack keeps your blood pumping even when no one is fighting. This is not to say I would have preferred to see the film in its original format, with subtitles, but Black Mask delivers more bang for the buck than anything coming out of American studios. Originally released in 1996 as Hak Hap, this movie made the jump to America three years later, just after Jet Li had made his American debut in Lethal Weapon IV. The film does have a comic-book superhero feel to it, thanks largely to the Kato-like black mask the hero wears, but the storyline is actually quite impressive and easy to follow (although the master plan of the baddies seems a little out-there) . Some reviewers don't seem to care for Black Mask, but I thought it was terrific.

Jet Li plays Michael, a former member of an elite, genetically enhanced fighting group known as the 701 Squad; after helping his fellow soldiers escape, he wants nothing more to do with killing. Now adopting the name Simon, he is a mild-mannered librarian perfectly content with his new life. Then the killings start. Someone is offing all of the drug lords in Hong Kong, which doesn't necessarily sound like a bad thing, even to Simon's buddy Inspector "Rock" Sheck (Ching Wan Lau). Still, the detective has to put an end to the carnage and becomes the lead man on the case. Simon realizes that his old 701 Squad is carrying out the attacks, and he takes action in order to save his friend Rock. No one else can stop these bad guys, so Simon dons a black mask to hide his identity, and starts [fighting] from one side of the island to the other.

The action never stops, and Tsui Hark does more with ten million dollars than most filmmakers could do with ten times that amount. I'm talking carnage, people - huge explosions, gunfire by the truckload, and incredibly wicked fighting - oftentimes in the most precarious of places. At least half of the police force must get killed as this movie progresses, and the bad guys fare even worse; in one scene, the stiffs are stacked up one on top of the other. Hark is a genius when it comes to presenting incredible action in the most unusual of ways and from the most unconventional of angles, and Jet Li is at his very best, exhibiting the smoothness and rapid-fire movements of the Wushu style he mastered long ago. The supporting characters also bring a lot to the movie, from the delightful love interest Tracy Lee (Karen Mok) to genetically engineered superbabe Cailyn (Francoise Yip) to hard-nosed cop and all-around tough guy "Rock" to the super-evil Commander Hung (Kong Lung) (who, for reasons I can't explain, dresses like Ozzy Osbourne). With a greater than average gore quotient, Black Mask has everything I want in a martial arts film.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Rather unfortunate...
Review: I was incredibly disapointed with this film. One doesn't really enter such cinematic adventures hoping for the story or the drama to catch hold of you; Jet Li's presence was the only drawing factor. To see his style of movement so reduced: 'Matrix'-ized was a complete travesty. Jet Li has got to be one of the most remarkably breathtaking martial artists to come out of Hong Kong within the past 15 years. His fluidity of motion is awe-inspiring. If his stunts lack the acrobatic audacity of Jackie Chan, the sublime nature of his kinetic art is truly beautiful--I cite the Once Upon a Time in China series, or for sheer joyous fun watch New Legend of Shaolin. This is not meant to decry Yuen Wo Ping's efforts as a coreographer; when you subtract the explosions and surplus blood from the fight sequences you'll find they _are_ well done if rather 'hard hitting'---they simply fail to do any justice to the potential for grace and elegance in motion that Jet Li has demonstrated so reliably in the past.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A++++++++++++++++++++
Review: This movie deserves an A+++++++++++++++++++ since this is jet lis best movie ever. And i like his fighting style.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: very intriguing
Review: This was a very intriguing movie staring jet li. And i would say that this is one my all time favorite jet li movie.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Easily forgotten
Review: It didn't take me long to forget this film. Once again it stars Jet in a strange role.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Review: this movie is so much better than cradle 2 da grave. since jet li and dmx doesn't make a good chemistry.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Review: this movie is better than jackie chans movies. since jet lis movies are fast paced.


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