This film is a spinoff/sequel of the extremely popular Young and Dangerous "Triad Boyz" series, featuring "Triad Grrl"
Sandra Ng as Sister Thirteen, the lone female boss in the Hung Hing gang. This film is a significant step up in quality from
the Y&D films, having both a stronger script and a much stronger lead performance than anything Dior Cheng could hope
to muster.

The bulk of the story occurs in flashback, detailing the events that led Sandra Ng to become involved with the Hung Hing
gang. Ng Man-Tat plays her father, a low level lackey in the Hung Hing gang. Kristy Yeung plays Yun, Thirteen's best friend.
Hsu Chi plays a junkie who has been ruined by a policeman affiliated with the Tung Sing gang. She and Thirteen become
friends before Thirteen becomes a triad boss. Alex Fong also has a supporting role as Coke, a member of a rival gang whom
Thirteen befriends before beginning her triad life.

The most interesting plot element for me was Sister Thirteen's 'coming out'. Though she is consistently referred to (and
refers to herself) as a lesbian I think a fairly clear case can be made that she is in fact bisexual. Perhaps her lesbianism is a
necessary facade that she must maintain in order to maintain her position in what is clearly a man's world. Were she to
become 'someone's woman', no doubt her credibility as a triad boss would suffer.

Sandra Ng gives a wonderful performance. She shows both the toughness that allows Sister Thirteen to survive in the triad
world, as well as repressed tenderness and pain. Kristy Yeung is surprisingly good. Having only seen her previously as the
flower vase in The Storm Riders and a small role in Comrades, Almost a Love Story, I was somewhat surprised at the
dimensions she brough to her role, particularly in a touching scene with Sandra Ng late in the film. I also enjoyed Alex Fong
as Coke. His face spoke volumes though his performance was largely worldless. There are no weak performances to be found
in this film, no one who breaks the suspension of disbelief.

This film has received three Hong Kong Film Awards nominations, one each for Sandra Ng (best acress), Kristy Yeung (best
supporting actress), and Hsu Chi (best supporting actress). I am rooting for Sandra in this one, though I haven't seen all the
other nominated performances. Kristy Yeung is probably the most deserving of the supporting actress nominees, though it
seems to me there must have been better performances this past year then those nominated (Nicola Cheung in City of Glass
comes to mind).

The script is intelligently written and stays strong throughout, though the triad machinations and betrayals it portrays have
become a bit predictable and commonplace given the huge body of Hong Kong triad films. Sandra Ng's character is
wonderfully fleshed out, the kind of thing you just don't see often enough in Hong Kong films, particularly a triad flick.

This is one of the more interesting films to come form Hong Kong in a while, and I highly recommend it. The Y&D films have
generated numerous spinoffs and sequels, but this film outshines its progrenitor in all respects.