The Avenging Quartet

This movie essentially begins with an ancient painting from the Sung Dynasty which was taken during World War 2 by the occupying Japanese forces. As the war progressed the Japanese army began experimenting with biological weapons and used Chinese citizens to test them on. However, with the war now turning against them--and the possibility of being executed for war crimes--the Japanese military decided to hide certain top secret files inside of this valuable Sung painting with the idea of eventually bringing it back to Japan. Unfortunately for them, the painting was stolen not long afterward--along with the horrific information contained inside. Needless to say, the Chinese government, unaware of the secret files inside, wants the painting because of its historic value. The Japanese government, on the other hand, wants the painting in order to avoid embarrassment concerning their atrocities. As a result, when the painting turns up on the black market, a number of people want this painting at all cost. This brings us to the present with a Chinese policewoman named "Chin" (Cynthia Khan) in the process of busting a secret transaction involving a Chinese Triad from Hong Kong. When a gun fight breaks out between the police and the Triad, Chin is saved at the last minute by one of the criminals--who just happens to be her former boyfriend, "Hsiong" (Waise Lee). Figuring that he might be implicated in the murder of several policemen, Hsiong flees the mainland and makes his way back to Hong Kong. That said, even though it has been seven years since she had last seen him, Chin decides to travel to Hong Kong to find him. What Chin doesn't realize is that Hsiong has changed quite a bit and since he has possession of the painting a lot of other people are also looking for him as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I found this movie to be somewhat unusual in that it incorporates both action and comedy but then changes rather dramatically toward the end. Yet, even though I didn't particularly care for this sudden change, I must admit that the film itself was fairly entertaining all the same. Additionally, having four lovely actresses like Moon Lee (as "Feng"), Michiko Nishiwaki ("Sen"), Yukari Oshima ("Oshima") and the aforementioned Cynthia Khan certainly didn't hurt either. All things considered then, I rate this movie as slightly above average.