_Black_Mask_ (R) *** (out of ****)
After stealing the show from Mel Gibson and company in _Lethal_Weapon 4_, it was only a matter of time before American distributors started invading the vault of Jet Li's Hong Kong work. The first of what is sure to be a long line of wide American releases is _Black_Mask_, a gritty, hyperstylish 1996 adventure that plugs Li's talents into a superhero yarn. However, as fun and exciting as the film often is, it is far from Li's best showcase.
That distinction belongs to _Fist_of_Legend_, an electrifying 1994 reworking of the Bruce Lee vehicle _The_Chinese_Connection_ whose American distribution (through Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures) was scrapped. However, it is easy to see why _Black_Mask_ ended up as his first HK effort to widely reach U.S. screens. It isn't so much that the film is a diverting entertainment (which it certainly is), but that it is one of Li's few actioners set in contemporary times. Most of his high-flying films, from _Fist_of Legend_ to his starmaking _Once_Upon_a_Time_in_China_ series, were set in period China--not exactly inaccessible to Yank audiences considering the amount of action in these films, but a difficult sell nonetheless.
_Black_Mask_ is much more easily marketable: a dark, extremely violent comic-book-style adventure where Li plays Tsui, a medically-enhanced supersoldier who escapes the shady outfit that created him. He attempts to live a quiet existence as a pacificist librarian, but soon he jolted back to action when his former cohorts have taken to killing off all of Hong Kong's drug lords. His identity kept a secret under a black mask (hence the title), Tsui, with the reluctant help of aptly named policeman Rock (Lau Ching Wan), attempts to set things right.
_Black_Mask_ has much more of a technical sheen than any of Jackie Chan's fun yet rather crudely produced HK imports. The English dubbing job is actually competently done (Li doesn't do his own dialogue, but his stand-in does an adequate job). There is some inventive production and costume design, as well as some often stunning cinematography. Director Daniel Lee's strong suit is definitely his visual style, which appears to be influenced by the frenetic camera techniques of Michael Bay.
While the glossy approach keeps the film never less than visually stimulating, it also shortchanges the many fight sequences, which, of course, are what people see Jet Li films for. Granted, no amount of MTV-style editing can rob Li's acrobatic martial arts skills of their electrifying effect, but the quick cuts do dilute it a bit. One is left in greater awe when one is actually able to see what Li can and does do--without any flashy frills.
But until _Fist_of_Legend_ or any of his better showcases--such as _Once_Upon_a_Time_in_China_, _Fong_Sai-Yuk_, or _The_Tai-Chi_Master_, the latter which co-stars _Tomorrow_Never_Dies_ scene stealer Michelle Yeoh--is made available to the masses (those films are all available, though on a fairly limited basis, on video), _Black_Mask_ nicely gets the job done as either a showcase for Jet Li's athletic talents or an undemanding blast of action and mayhem.
Michael Dequina
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