Well folks, looks like BLACK MASK, a hardcore Jet Li action film might be making it to our American shores in a mass market sort of way. I haven't seen a cool Jet Li film on a big screen since the University of Texas made the IDIOTIC decision to shut down the HOGG AUDITORIUM and the TEXAS UNION THEATER, where his films were a mainstay. Let's keep our fingers crossed, there's nothing quite like watching Jet Li kick ass on the big screen. The images below came from This Site Here, which has many more images from the film!!!
Kung-fu kids,
Its time. Jet Li is about to arrive, Hong Kong style. And he's dishin' out some serious slaps to all the fools that get in his way. That's right, the wait is over, Black Mask is finally hittin' a thousand US theaters. The speculation, the rumors and whatever red tape this dick kickin' flick was stuck in is yesterday's news.
Places like "www.netasia.net/users/sgc_wdi/news.htm", the IMDB and others are reporting similar things. But, this little Shaolin monk has heard from people on the inside that Artisan Entertainment is re-cutting, re-scoring, dubbing and generally repackaging this wicked little movie and serving it up fast, furious and hard hittin'.
This is cooler than your little brother's wallet chain for a bunch of reasons. One, we get to see Jet where he's really at. Not pulling up the socks of a thoroughly exhausted, irresponsible 80's buddy pic franchise with the likes of Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and bad sax riffs. Two, Francoise Yip. She is the dopest, most dangerous chick kicker to come along in just about forever. Michelle Yeoh-old you say? Why? Watch Francoise clutch-kick Jet's broadcast into a new frequency, you'll see what I'm talking about. Three, this movie oozes action-cool. Drippin' with it. Exploding with it. Beating people up with it. Can you tell I'm excited?
Mid-March is the time. Bring your helmet, your gonna need it.
cocktailsfromthecrypt
And from CEREAL KILLER below, we have a review and synopsis of the film, as it was originally presented. The version that 'coctailsfromthecrypt' is talking about will be newly edited and will contain a new score. So.. who knows how that will change things...
A first time scooper here with a plot synopsis and review for Black Mask(Spoiler Alert):
I saw a bootleg version of Black Mask over the summer. Being a die hard Jet Li fan I can tell you I was pretty disappointed. I saw a bootleg of the Laserdisc, so even the quality was a little above bootleg standard.
The film is an adaption of a Manga I believe and was produced by Tsui Hark. So immediately, I was expecting some serious ass kicking. Instead, like most comic adaptions it falls a little flat. The story is about a government experiment that is done to an elite group of soldiers and grants them with heightened strength, stamina, speed, etc. These soldiers are then sent out on what would normally be suicide missions, but of course is a walk in the park to these guys. In fact, the opening scene takes us through one such mission with Jet's character(Tsui Chik is his name if i'm not mistaken). The scene seems like a rip off of Woo and Hark, with lots of slo mo, wire-fu, and conservative bloodletting. Then we find out that the government scraps the project after believing that all their subjects have died in a failed mission. Of course, not all of them were killed. Jet's character goes on to live life as a librarian and at nights he becomes the Black Mask. His costume is very Bruce Lee/Kato like with the hat, face mask, and throw in a black trench coat and you got the idea. However, Jet decides to lay low since his best buddy is a Hong Kong supercop and is also on the trail of Black Mask and finding out his identity. Their paths' cross when Jet's super soldier buddies decide to use their powers for terrorism. So, it's up to Black Mask to take them down.
That's the basic plot to Black Mask. It's no surprise that it is being released here theatrically. Black Mask is more a Hollywood film then any of Jet's Hong Kong films. It has a visual style reminisent of Burton and Proyas, and has quick cuts and edits. However, the story itself is pretty unoriginal. It seems like Universial Soldier, Batman, and even Phantom of the Opera(if you see the ending you know what I mean) rolled into a Hong Kong martial arts movie. Jet's normal stuff are period China movies where Americans are the enemy or the closed minded majority.
I think the plan to re-edit, and rescore the film is a good idea. The film is pretty flat in some parts and the hero's "theme" is kinda like a 50's surfing movie theme. I'm guessing they will also cut some violence out too since there are a few bloody shoot outs that tip the scale towards the R-rated side. Anyway, it seems they are trying to introduce Jet to American audiences much like Jackie Chan was reintroduced: take his most "American friendly" movie repackage it and sell it. If they should do this, they should release Jet's "Hitman." While it's not as flashy as "Black Mask" it's more entertaining. It's funny, the fight scenes blow anything here away, and Jet gives a great performance. Also, he hardly uses wire in this. It's mostly him and his stuntmen doing some of the best fight scenes since Jackie Chan's 80's out put.
Thanks Harry,
Call me Cereal Killer
