Hapkido (5 Stars)

Last week I bought two box sets of films starring Angela Mao. Six films, and I have to start somewhere, so "Hapkido" is a wonderful place to start. I'm working my way through the films, and after seeing this one I'm already looking forward to the other five.

The film introduces us to three capable martial artists, Kao Chang (Carter Wong), Fan Wei (Sammo Hung) and Ying (Angela Mao). They're all good fighters, but Ying is clearly the best, and that's established right at the beginning during the training sequence. It's a nice touch, because the later fights live up to what we've already been shown. Angela Mao is excellent, and the action is terrific throughout.

My only slight criticism is the introduction of Ying's Head Brother about twenty minutes before the end. By that stage the film has already established its main characters and story, so bringing in an important new character so late feels rather awkward.

That's a minor blemish, though. Hapkido is an exciting, beautifully staged martial-arts film and, for me, it's almost perfect.

Who likes lobby cards? I miss them.

Look at the following poster. I'm amused by the tagline, "Don't let your girlfriend see this film". At first I thought it meant that she'd be jealous if I sat for 90 minutes ogling the beautiful Angela Mao. But it's probably a warning that my girlfriend would follow Angela's example and beat me up. Maybe both.