China Strike Force

In China, Uncle Ma (Siu-Ming La) is a powerful mobster, who deals with smuggling. His bodyguard Tony Lau (Mark Dacascos) betrayals him with the American drug dealer Coolio, introducing drugs in his territory. Two young Chinese detectives and an undercover Japanese Interpol agent chases the `bad guys'. `China Strike Force' is a good action movie, with well choreographed action scenes. I do not know who perform these scenes (stunts or actors themselves), but I found this film a good entertainment. It works perfectly on video. Norika Fujiwara is really a very beautiful woman. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Fúria em Shanghai' (`Rage in Shanghai')

I read some of the comments on this movie and it was described as being very funny rather than serious. So i decided to take a look, as much as i didn't want to laugh, i had to laugh because it is hilariuos. Badly acted, and badly performed that it becomes funny. What is up with the jumps? they look more like flying... And with the motorbike sequences? no comments...The dialogs are as cheesy as it gets. The only good parts are with Mark Dacascos, which is the main reason for me watching this movie, but yet another disappointment from his side...

A movie with Mark Dacascos in production by Stanley Tong, should be of high quality in all directions, this one was a failing attempt.

I really expect much from Stanley Stong, because he is well known as a good action director (Rumble In The Bronx, Martial Law), but when I decide to watch this one, I found my self fell in a such boring movie. The things that deserve to watch are only the action scenes and (off course) Noriko Fujiwara. The plot is trashy, and Aaron Kwok was seems to gorgeous to be a cop. Bad for you, Stanley. I hope he could do better next time.

5/10

I'll admit that much of the acting is very bad, the dialog is even worse, many of the stunts look so fake that they're ridiculous, nothing about the action scenes is in any way believable, and the story itself has been done to death... BUT...

Coolio is consistently funny as the South Central LA drug dealer trying to make a Chinese connection, Norika Fujiwara is as beautiful and sexy as you could want an actress to be, Mark Dacascos is actually pretty good in the movie, and even the fake-looking stunts are fun to watch as long as you don't let yourself get shaken out of the story by the extremely poor production values.

So although I grimaced in a few places, after it was over I realized I had enjoyed watching it.

CHINA STRIKE FORCE has some strikes against it. One is the odd casting of Coolio and the Japanese female lead. The other is the casting of two pop idols, which usually signal a flighty, silly movie.

While CSF is sometimes silly, it's mostly entertaining. Not incredibly so by any stretch, but entertaining enough that you wouldn't mind watching the film again. The action is good, and Coolio gives the film some terrific laughs.

CSF is one of those films that doesn't do anything it does with great excellence, but it's always good enough that you never feel cheated.

6 out of 10.