★★★
“Not-so naked killers.”
The latest in another case of “Chinese movie detective work,” this film actually appears twice on the Youtube iQIYI channel, with two different posters, synopses and English language titles: Miss Danger and Agent Crazy Flower (technically, it’s “A Gent Crazy Flower”, which creates a whole different set of expectations). Neither of these are the title by which it appears on Letterboxd. The sequel? Well, that shows up under another name entirely, but I’ll save that can of worms for another day. Let’s just say, Geena Davis is in for a surprise there. Anyway, questionable as to whether it was worth the effort, for a chaste knockoff of Naked Killer.
An early scene demonstrates the previous sentence in full effect. Two female assassins are cavorting in a swimming pool with their victim, before getting down to their murderous work. It’s definitely inspired by a very similar scene in Naked Killer. Except, nobody involved here is naked: our killers are wearing more clothing than your typical Victorian ma’am on a day-trip to the seaside. This persistent adherence to a roughly PG-rated standard persists throughout the film: I read a review of this which used the word “sleazy”, and I’m left wondering if we watched the same film. There are no shortage of opportunities to be sleazy, to be sure. However, beyond copious quantities of Chinese cheesecake, the makers always cop out. It feels pretty lazy: movie making as mass-produced, neutered template.
The story concerns Ya Mei (Xu), an agent for global crime-fighting force ATO. They were created to take down “M” , an organization specializing in black-market organ transplants and other shady activities, under leader Ba Song (Ni). On a mission with colleague Yun Zhi (Jing), Ya Mei barely escapes with her life, and Yun Zhi is apparently killed in an explosion. Ya quits the force and sets up house with her oblivious husband (seriously, the man is dense: after he sees her in action, his reaction is “Didn’t you tell me that you were a dance teacher?”). A masked home-invader forces her back into action against M and Ba Song, where she makes the thoroughly unsurprising discovery that Yun Zhi isn’t as dead as believed.
It’s a basic and predictable plot, which you will have heard told, and told better, before. However, the stuff around the edges is certainly competent enough to make up for much of it. The cinematography is crisp and stylish, and while the editing is excessive, it is so in a way that never collapses into incoherence. You always know who is doing what, and to whom. And I ain’t going to lie. The lead actress – and everyone else here – is easy on the eye. This is a universe in which there are simply no ugly people. Well, on the outside. The whole organ trafficking thing, with a hospital located in a meat market, isn’t pretty if you give it consideration. But the movie never does: it’s just a throwaway. This needs the presence of someone like Anthong Wong to escape being the same.
Dir: Li Zeng
Star: Dongdong Xu, Ni Xinyu, En Jing, Shi Enling
a.k.a. Miss Agent.