Black Mask (1999)

Take the art direction and set design from The Crow and Batman. Add a male-bonding element reminiscent of The Killer or Hard-Boiled. Stir in a plot line about some top-secret near-invincible bionic-man superwarriors taking over the drug trade in Hong Kong, with only one man who can stop them. Season with a high body count, lots of explosions and running gun battles, and spectacular hand-to-hand fight sequences. Top off with a soupçon of cheesy comic relief and a generous helping of atrocious dubbing. Bake for too long, then remove from oven and allow to cool until thoroughly stale. The result: Black Mask. Sure, it's a preposterous recipe (bet you didn't know that LED readouts will show up on an X-ray), but it's stylishly prepared and presented, with high-octane editing, wild camera angles, and a neo-Goth feel all around. Of course it's all about the remarkable Jet Li, the fight scenes, and the postindustrial art direction. Those who come expecting a high-concept, intelligent thriller will be left with indigestion, but Hong Kong action fans who live and die for insane stunts and head-spinning martial arts scenes will have their appetites sated by this dish. It's very interesting to see the influence that John Woo's hand continues to have on American and HK action thrillers, years after his seminal films with Chow Yun-fat. It'll be even more interesting to see how films like Black Mask hold up in the future. Just don't take it too seriously and this movie works just fine. Oh, and the title? It comes from when Jet Li switches from his mild-mannered librarian persona to butt-kicking superhero, complete with mask and hat à la The Green Hornet's Cato. --Jerry Renshaw Amazon.com

i wanted to love this movie

i am a huge jet li fan and of course HAD to have this movie. and i did really like it. i think i would have liked it more had it not beed overdubbed in english and had no chinese language option. something for the studio to think about when they undoubtedly end up rereleasing it. July 12, 2008

Black mask

I owned this movie in VHS and wanted it on DVD. Great action flic by Jet Li November 29, 2007

Black Mask...

I enjoyed Jet Li in this movie...never mind the dubbing, I can look past that and enjoy the move for what it is...fantasy/action. Four stars... December 21, 2006

Not Jet's worse, but man was that bad

Now obviously the new rap music and great american voices they put on make it as bad as possible. But then again, the movie certainly is no gem in it's original language version, that is for sure.

The whole movie had above average action sequences, but the story was unbearable. Not the story itself, but the execution of it is the worst possible. It goes from sickening moments to almost little kid parts between Jet and teh girl. Just freaking horrible.

So the dvd is full screened, music is stupid, voice dubbing is almost as bad as the "jet li collection" movies, but you will get a few good points one or two good laughs, and a decent finale. July 8, 2006

good action with a dash of plot.

First off, the action in this film is great. Jet Li can kick some major butt, and the scenes with him and Françoise Yip are very good.

The detective friend is funny, the dub is amusing, they went with a kind of Bogart vibe on the voice.

The dub for the girl Tracy is annoying... high pitched and whiney, but she's a plucky enough character to not be completely irredeemable.

All in all, good action movie, and Jet Li is pretty studly as the Black Mask. (although corrugated cardboard is not what I'd have pictured as good mask material) May 23, 2006

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