In the Line of Duty 5 (1990)



	In the Line of Duty 5		Return to Review Archive - I
	AKA:	Middleman	Cynthia Khan
	Year:	1990
	Director:	Cha Yuen-Yee
	Producer:	Stephen Shin Gei-Yin
	Writer:	Tony Leung Hung-Wah
	Cast:	Cynthia Khan, David Wu, Alvina Kong Yan-Yin, Kim Maree Penn, Billy Chow Bei-Lei, Chris Lee Kin-Sang, Lo Lieh, Lau Kong
	The Skinny:	Last acknowledged entry in the In the Line of Duty series ends things with a whimper.
	Review by Kozo:	Last in the mostly-excellent series of female ass-kicking movies brings back Cynthia Khan. As D&B Film’s designated female ass-kicker, Khan has carried her share since taking over for the retired Michelle Yeoh. Unfortunately the series has definitely gone astray. Left behind is the all-out action insanity of the previous four. Where the previous movies (Yes Madam, Royal Warriors, and In the Line of Duty 3 & 4) used unimportant and hackneyed plots to fill space between the action, Middle Man uses uninspiring action to fill space between a ludicrous, byzantine, and uninteresting story. The result is completely bland, possessing a nonsensical plot about spies, marines, the CIA, and loser drug dealers. Celebrated MTV Asia VJ David “Wu-Man” Wu is an American marine and cousin to Cynthia Khan who gets involved in a boring international spy-hunt as the CIA tracks down the mysterious General, broker to some of the world’s top intelligence secrets. When David’s framed for the murder of some bad guy, he goes on the run with Cynthia as the two struggle to clear his name and track down the General. What all this means is nothing, as the players are totally faceless. I swear there were three separate groups chasing David and Cynthia, but I can only identify that one of them was the CIA. The action is slower than usual, and the proliferation of standard action (i.e. car chases and gunfights) takes away from the thrill of these movies: unbelievably insane ass-kicking. Watch the first four before going near this one. Then go watch those four again. (Kozo 1998)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Universe Laser Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of Universe Laser & Video Co., Ltd.
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