Black Mask

This 1996 Hong Kong action thriller has been dubbed and dumped on the American public now that its star, Jet Li, has hit it big in Lethal Weapon 4. In this futuristic comic-book adaptation, Li is a member of a covert corps of cyber-engineered super-cops. When the experiment goes sour, the units are processed for termination, but several escape during a last-minute insurrection. Li assimilates into Hong Kong society as a meek librarian and befriends a rough-and-tumble police inspector (Lau Ching-Wan). The remainder of the kill-happy militia, under the hand of their psychotic commander (a gaudy, John Lennon-ish Patrick Lung), embark on an ultra-violent -- and gory -- campaign to take over Hong Kong's underworld. Realizing his cop buddy doesn't stand a chance and looking to protect his new identity, Li dons a Kato-esque costume -- replete with the celebrated object of the film's title -- and goes at it with his former stablemates.

The plot is sheer techno-garble, but when it comes to action, The Black Mask delivers with an adrenaline-pumping kick. The flashy, martial-arts fight sequences, choreographed by Yuen Woo-pin (the brains behind the stylistic kung fu work in The Matrix), are Jackie Chan caliber. Behind the mask, or in the restrained demure of the librarian, Li is charismatic, Lau exudes an über-cool machismo, and as the Mask's former and present love interests, a bondage-clad Françoise Yip (Rumble in the Bronx) and a ditzy, cute Karen Mok are wonderfully redolent. At the Showcase cinemas.
-- Tom Meek