Black Cat 黑猫

The film follows the French "Nikita" almost shot for shot. A drifter, Jade Leung, kills a man who was harassing her, and accidentally kills a policeman who arrives at the scene as well. On the way to court, she is "killed" by unknown assailants, but in the end the girl wakes up in a secret hangar, where it turns out she has been recruited as an agent for a security service. Withdrawn and feral, she is given the "undercover nickname" Black Cat, and after a year of training she re-enters the world, where she meets a guy (Thomas Lam) who seems to love her, but she cannot be with him because of her job. A tragic story, of sorts.

Impressions: As I already said, Black Cat is practically a shot-for-shot remake of the 1989 French smash hit La Femme Nikita, which makes the film rather hard to judge. Hong Kong filmmakers have always had a keen nose for plots capable of turning a profit, and in the case of La Femme Nikita they even beat Hollywood to the punch, since its remake (Point of No Return) would only appear in 1993. True, first in this case hardly means best, and to me personally Black Cat seemed like one of the most overrated films Hong Kong has ever produced.

How can you judge a remake that contains absolutely nothing new? The storyline has been altered only minimally — just enough so that its makers could claim in good conscience that, besides different actors, the film has other differences too. The actors are, of course, different as well, but the roles of Simon Yam and Thomas Lam could have been played by absolutely anyone — they are mere wallpaper here against the backdrop of Jade Leung. And she, perhaps, deserves a closer look.

This was the first film in which Jade played a central role, and it was with Black Cat that her career as a tough "action heroine" began. Critics drooled with delight, and the HKFA handed her an award as Best New Performer, but again, unfortunately, I saw nothing new in her acting. Jade tries as hard as she can to copy Anne Parillaud — the same head tilted to one side, the tousled hair, and the withdrawn, silent toughness that seeps through her every gesture. Well, good for her, a talented impersonation. There's no point even mentioning anything of her own here — whatever Parillaud overlooked, Jade Leung likewise sees no need to show (except, perhaps, for a cartoonishly elevated degree of nudity — Jade strips off her clothes at the slightest pretext, all the while diligently turning her back to the camera). She doesn't have that mischievous spark in her eyes the way Anne did, she lacks that charm of spontaneity — just a wooden doll, a puppet for killing, with no opinions of her own, no desires or aspirations. The ideal figure for a B-movie, which, sadly, is exactly what Black Cat is.

Sorry, it's not even an action film. The action scenes are cobbled together rather hastily and, frankly speaking, are often simply botched. Sure, there's shooting and running here, but Hong Kong remakes of overseas hits usually stood out at least for their professionally staged, dynamic action — yet again one has to admit that even the original La Femme Nikita was a notch above as an action film.

So what do we have? A plot the filmmakers were too lazy to change even a little, action the filmmakers were too lazy to stage even a little better, Jade Leung, who, though she isn't lazy and does try, still amounts to nothing more than a faded copy of Anne Parillaud, and the visual cheapness typical of the D&B company. Watch it only if you consider the later installments of In the Line of Duty the gold standard of action, or if by some inexplicable chance you still haven't gotten around to watching the French La Femme Nikita.

Awards: HKFA Award for Best New Performer (Jade Leung).