Chek law dak gung (2002)

Director:

Siu-Tung Ching

Writer:

Jing Wong (writer)

Release Date:

15 November 2002 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

They will seduce you - just before they kill you!

Plot:

A mysterious woman, known as Madame M, kidnaps forty pre-teen girls and transports them to a remote island to train them as the most deadly assassins...

Plot Keywords:

CIA | Hong Kong | Assassin | Assassination | Gunfight

Cast

Marit Thoresen	...	Fiona Birch
Almen Wong Pui-Ha	...	Madam M (as Almen Wong)
Daniel Wu	...	Jack Chen
Natalie Kyoko Waters	...	Little Katherine (as Kai Yan Kwok)
Renee Nichole Rommeswinkel	...	Young Charlene Ching
Chia-li Mo	...	Little Jing (as Mo Ka Lai)
Augustin Aguerreberry	...	Drillmaster
Maggie Q	...	Charlene Ching
Anya	...	Katherine
Jewel Lee	...	Jing
Monica Lo	...	Student murdered in Cage
Benny Lai	...	Tattooed Yakuza Boss
Pei-pei Cheng	...	Faye Ching
Dennis Chan	...	Mr. Chan
Andrew Lin	...	Ryuichi

Also Known As:

Naked Weapon (Hong Kong: English title) (USA)
Chi luo te gong (China: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, some sexuality and drug use.

Runtime:

92 min | USA:90 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

English | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Finland:K-18 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Philippines:R-18 | South Korea:15 | Australia:R | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | New Zealand:R18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

Media Asia Films

Trivia:

Mark Aldred, who played the Russian crime boss (uncredited) was fired from his job as an English teacher in a Hong Kong primary school because the principal had discovered his role in this film. After a lengthy hearing, an industrial tribunal awarded Aldred HK$11,600 as a contract gratuity. However, it threw out his claim for around $79,000 in damages and dismissed Aldred's claims that his sacking was unlawful.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the scene where "china doll" is analyzed, they misspell PHILIPPINES as PHILLIPPINES.

Movie Connections:

References Batoru rowaiaru (2000)

Dumb but fun action yarn

Charlene (Maggie Q) is a young girl who finds herself imprisoned and trained to be an assassin, along with a group of other girls including Katt (An Ya) and the psychotic Jing (Jewel Lee). Six years later, these three girls are the only ones left alive to pass the grade, and are sent out into the outside world to become assassins, working under the control of the sinister Madame M.

What follows is a pretty much non-stop fight scene, big explosions, blood and death. It's totally cool in a way that western films try so hard but fail to be (mentioning no Ballistics). It doesn't even matter that a lot of the fighting is weak and/or doubled, the lead girls – for all their inexperience – look and move great. There's lots of wirework and plenty of camera trickery, but it gets away with it by being far more fun than it has any right to be. I loved it, and if you like girls with guns, looking cool and shooting people in slow motion, you will too.