Angel Terminators (1992)
Reviewed by: ewaffle on 2007-07-23
Summary: Carrie Ng carries the day
Carrie Ng Ka-La gives a terrific performance in “Angel Terminators”. She is tough, and vulnerable, hot and cold, sexy and sweet. She inhabits the multifarious part of Carrie who goes from gangster’s moll to policeman’s wife to heroin addict to self-sacrificing warrior. She looks great with her striking face--great cheekbones, full lips, perfect complexion plus a luxuriant mane of dark hair. Her make up is a bit flamboyant but suits her well, especially in screen-filling close-ups. She makes us lover her character and we feel the pain of betrayal when she is deceived by the men in her life. Even surrounded by a lot of misogynist garbage, she makes this movie worth seeing.

If one were to judge “Angel Terminators”, officers of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force don’t have to search for criminals—law breakers constantly show up in front of them, often in the middle of their crime. There are three instances of this in the first few minutes. While on a tac squad type patrol, Sharon Yeung and Kara Hui, along with their male counterparts, see a convoy of cars escorting Brother Ken Tsang who is fleeing the colony. Bullets fly, cars smash into each other and burst into flames and in the ensuing mayhem the gang leader escapes. Shortly after that the two Madam Officers are on their way to the airport. Kara Hui is going to Scotland for advanced training and Sharon is giving her a ride in their detective car. While on their way the radio squawks with news of a jewelry robbery that has gone wrong—the armed thieves, having shot a policeman while trying to escape, are barricaded in a kindergarten holding the teacher and all the young pupils as hostages. The ladies decide they have enough time before the plane leaves to stop by the scene where they immediately take command. It could (but won’t) go without saying that they deal with the hostage situation quickly and efficiently and still get to the airport on time.

The third instance happens when Lieutenant Kim Chi Yu drops his wife (Carrie Ng!) off at a shopping center. She goes in while he waits in the car. Suddenly panicked citizens run from the building, screaming that there is a robbery going on inside. Kim runs in, gets the drop on the two chopper wielding criminals but things take a sudden turn for the worse (and the ridiculous) when Carrie happens by and winds up with a knife to her throat and a desperate criminal telling Kim to drop his gun or watch Carrie get her throat slashed. Kim manages to get her free but the robbers escape in the confusion.

These three scenes serve to introduce the three sets of characters that will define the rest of the movie. Ken Tsang is Sawada/Brother Ken, a ruthless drug kingpin who has a soft spot in his heart for Carrie. Just before he leaves in the fatal convoy he listens in an otherwise deserted nightclub to her singing a torch song—a song for him alone. The second show how Kara and Sharon are both friends and partners along with being tough and talented command officers. The third brings back Carrie and introduces Kim, a different type of cop altogether.

Brother Ken returns to Hong Kong after seven years in Thailand with his gang intact and ready to continue to do business. Brother Bing has tried to co-opt his territory and his men but while Ken inspires loyalty, Bing rules with fear. It takes only a few minutes for Ken to reassert himself, handing out briefcases full of money to his former cohorts while Bing’s lifeless body floats in the swimming pool.

Officer Kim has a problem—he is an enthusiastic but not particularly skilled gambler and is no match for the professionals he plays against. He owes two million dollars and Ken is holding his marker. He collapses under the pressure and winds up on the wrong side of the law, unfortunately dragging Carrie with him. Carrie, on a futile mission to reclaim her husband’s career by getting his marker back from Ken, winds up beaten, cut with a bottle and urinated on before being delivered to the not so tender mercies of Nishiwaki Michiko. She is thrown into the same makeshift cell as Sharon who had been captured while trying to find out how Kim had sold out his comrades.

The climax was spectacular and outrageous, very much in the extravagant fashion in which Hong Kong movies often end.

In addition to the wonderful work by Carrie Ng, Kevin Tsang played a villain who has as evil as anyone could imagine and the actress who played May, a prostitute/gambler/informer was quite good. Most of the rest of the cast had roles that called for them to beat up or shoot others until it was time for them to be beaten up or shot.

Recommend for the Carrie Ng’s searing performance but not much else although Nishiwaki fans won't be disappointed.
Reviewer Score: 6