Body Weapon (1999)



	Body Weapon		Return to Review Archive - B
	Year:	1999	Angie Cheung is the Body Weapon
	Director:	Aman Cheung Man
	Producer:	Wong Jing
	Cast:	Zhao Wen-Zhou, Angie Cheung Wai-Yi, Stephen Au Kam-Tong, Joe Ma Tak-Chung, Tsui Kam-Kong, Pinky Cheung Man-Chi, Clarence Fok Yiu-Leung
	The Skinny:	Sleazy and without any redeeming qualities, this tasteless rape/revenge fantasy from Wong Jing will find some fans but hopefully more detractors.
	Review by Kozo:	This exploitation film from exploitation kings Cheung Man and Wong Jing serves up sleaziness and nonsensical weirdness with the usual smirk. Meant to be a companion to the Raped by an Angel series, it actually succeeds in doing so. Sadly, those movies were mediocre genre exercises that served up rape and raunch in equally distasteful doses. Body Weapon does the same, but it wastes more talent than those other films. Martial artist Zhao Wen-Zhou loses another step in his quest to be HK’s new martial arts champ. He’s officer Wu, a serious by-the-book cop who’s investigating a series of brutal rapes/murders. Helping him is partner and best buddy Stephen Au Kam-Tong, who attempts to distance himself from his Mei-Ah pitchman days by sporting a bad haircut. They’re both in love with hot-bodied fellow cop Angie Cheung, but Au wins out and gets to marry her. Their voyeuristic wedding night goes to hell when the evil rapist (a masked S&M guy who looks like the gimp from Pulp Fiction) shows up and allows his cronies to gang rape Cheung - right before they kill off her new husband. Cheung receives veneral disease and wallows in self-pity. Then she slips into yet another sexy outfit, heads to a bar to meet buddy Pinky Cheung, and enlists the tutelage of a orange-haired homosexual (director Clarence Fok). He’s a wacky flamer who teaches Cheung how to find and assault a man’s G-spot (?). Then Zhao Wen-Zhou returns from shooting another film to help Cheung kill off the bastard rapist and expose his secret identity, which is actually no surprise at all. Yes, the audacity of Wong Jing and Cheung Man has to be seen to be believed. Zhao only fights sporadically and he simply won’t take advantage of his good looks by becoming a romantic lead. Then again, why would he want to do so in this manufactured piece of crap? Angie Cheung is attractive and sexy, but she’s obviously angling for the new Chingmy Yau crown (though buddy Pinky Cheung could challenge) by appearing in crappy Wong Jing exploitation. A total dog from top to bottom, this odious piece of distaste makes Her Name is Cat look like La Femme Nikita. Cheap Killers is Face/Off when compared to the masochistic excess of Body Weapon. One can only hope that Angie Cheung manages to avoid starring in point-revealing erotic films like Sex and Zen. Actually, Sex and Zen wasn’t really that great, but compared to Body Weapon it’s the HK analog of Last Tango in Paris. Future Cops is The Storm Riders when stacked next to the filmmaking zenith that is Body Weapon. You get the idea. (Kozo 1999)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Mei Ah Laser Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., Ltd.
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