Customer Reviews

Black Cat

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Why is it so often the remakes of movies get the attention and accolades and it's not for some time afterward that the debt is attributed to the original? Such is the case with this film. Everybody went nuts for La Femme Nikita and thought Hollywood had the nerve to remake it as Point of No Return. They should have acknowledged this first and slapped both their hands. Maybe it's only because Hong Kong cinema is finally finding an audience that this title has surfaced. Though I like "La Femme" quite a bit, something in this version intrigued me more. Maybe it's because the heroine has greater inherant sadness and frailty about her, making the transformation all the more powerful. Anne Parlliaud is rough and tough from the get-go and merely seems to have had her natural criminality channeled into something acceptable (to the authorities anyway). The Black Cat seems to flow a bit steadier as well. I found my mind drifting a bit during La Femme when she begins to settle into a life of mayhem and finds it difficult to include a relationship into her routine. The production design in La Femme (the production values in general) are higher than those in The Black Cat, but Hong Kong cinema is not know for budet and this film performs admirably on significantly less. If you liked either of the remakes, give this a shot. It should satisfy on several levels.

This is the best in a series of Hong Kong attempts to [emulate] La Femme Nakita (titles of others are escaping me). Don't let this turn you off if you are thinking this is going to be like that horrible Hollywood Bridget Fonda vehicle- Hong Kong will always do it better. I have friends that say this is better than the original, but I wouldn't go that far. I believe this is Jade Leung's first major role and she is great. She is not only beautiful, but can act. She makes this movie. In fact they made a sequel of this film due to it's popularity in HK.

Jade plays a Chinese-American who gets in a scrap at a truck stop and accidently kills a cop. She is then killed by assasins, or is she. The CIA has actually taken her, put a chip in her to enhance her physical prowess, and now she is an assasin for them. She falls in love along the way and ...

The funny thing about this movie is that I think it was filmed entirely over seas, but the first half is suppossed to take place in the US. So the entire first half is in English, even parts where the story is in HK are in English. Otherwise the usual weird/absurd subtitle translations are in effect. Overall DVD quality is very good.

Okay, it's a little annoying when people claim that Point of No Return was the second remake of La Femme Nikita. Black Cat was made in 1991 while Point was made in 1993. While Point was an almost blow by blow recreation of Nikita, Black Cat took the essential structure and gave it a different spin. Now, that's what I call a remake, what's the point of a blow by blow remake? Black Cat can never replace Nikita for me, I do think Nikata is a superior film. However, Black Cat has Jade and the film's biggest charm is the strength of the then newcomer to the movies. She brings a different intensity and understated fraility to the character. Not that Anne Parillaud was bad, she was very good, but she didn't make me want to go out there and watch every film she has ever made. Black Cat has nice action sequences courtesy of HK. It's focus is completely different from Nikita, it's more an action film then an exploration of what it feels to be trapped. There will be some of us who'll like, even love, Black Cat. There will be many who'll dislike it. There is a reason this film is called a cult classic not a classic. NOT everyone will like this film. Just bear in mind, if you intend to watch this film, watch it with an open mind and don't try and compare it with it's predecessor and you might see why Black Cat became a cult classic and Point of no Return didn't.

I've always liked seeing flicks with chicks that kick a**. Thus, my spirits were high going into this film.

Reading the description on the box pretty muched summed up the whole film. IT'S A REMAKE OF LA FEMME NIKITA. Not that this is bad, it's just that it isn't very original.

Yes, Jade does most of her stunts, and quite impressive to say the least. I just wish that the character could have been devolped more in the beginning of the film so we could feel for the character more.

Nothing groundbreaking, but still deserves a look.

Haven't seen the DVD adaptation yet, but the film has the same script as The Assassin with Bridget Fonda or the french version Nikita with Anne Parillaud. If you like those two, you might want to see this third version. The start is a bit slow, but then it's action packed.

First off, make sure that you buy the original release that Amazon offers, not the new English dubbed DVD release. Well, in the grand tradition of Hong Kong Action films to remake American and other films, Black Cat is the remake of the French film La Femme Nikita (The American version, Point of No Return, was the third in this series of remakes). Anyway...Black Cat stars Jade Leung in the starring role of a bad grrrl transformed into a top notch assassin for a top secret organization. The Hong Kong twist is that a computer chip called a Black Cat is implanted into Leung's brain, augmenting her abilities, and making her the great assasin that she is. This film has all the drama and action of La Femme Nikita, plus more. Simon Yam stars as Leung's mentor and controller. All in all a good film. If you've seen La Femme Nikita or Point of No Return, then you already know the plot and ending to this particular film, but give the HK version a chance. They take a proven storyline and do their magic with it.

This is one of the worst movies I have seen. Forget buying this DVD - even renting it is waste of money and time. Poor direction with equally poor plot and unthinkable dubbing. My question is why do people produce movies like this?

This is a far inferior Hong Kong re-make of La Femme Nikita in which Jade Leung plays "Black Cat", a young drifter who is trained as an assassin after being taken into a secret organization. Leung is decent in her first role, but plays the part mostly through facial expressions - there aren't a lot of lines for her. Simon Yam, who is always fun to watch, plays her boss. Expect a lot of Hong Kong style action, with over the top violence and brutal fights. Unfortunately, the acting by the Caucasian cast is absolutely dreadful and seriously detracts from the overall movie. Pretty mediocre movie in the long run.

Whereas Point of No Return was basically La Femme re-heated and served covered in ketchup, this piece of junk is LFN sliced and diced and made into a horrible stir-fry. Really bad foreign flick, at several points it's college-level filmmaking... at its worst!

Sigh.

If first you succeed, try and try again.

That's the motto of filmmakers around the world apparently. All we need now is for someone in India to make 'The Killer from Calcutta' and we will have seen every major movie industrial machine on the planet shoot a version of the same script.

If you liked 'La Femme Nikita' in French (the original) and/or the Hollywood remake ('Point of No Return'), then maybe you won't mind seeing it a third time, this time with a Hong Kong sensibility. Me, I think enough is enough. Let's move on already!

('Black Cat' should probably get One Star, but I have to give the crew credit for some impressive stunts. The actors were also less-than-horrible, but no one really rose above adequate.)