B Movie Bonanza

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/post/1019689

Tagline

They will seduce you - just before they kill you!

Elevator pitch

'La Femme Nikita' meets 'Hong Kong's Next Top Model'

Summary

40 kidnapped girls are trained to become smoking hot international assassins. But there can be only one! *

Trailer

• https://youtu.be/mm9ab3CQ2IE

Movie

Details

Unless otherwise stated, all full movie links I post are for free, no account required, licensed (AFAIK, IANAL) streaming VOD in English (or original language with English subtitles) and work at time of writing in my location, Mexico. Availability and language options may be different in your location. Asterisk by the one I watched.

• Tubi - Naked Weapon (2002) (English) * (up to 1080p)

• Plex - Naked Weapon (2002) (English)

Legal stream finders

• https://nobraincellsleft.github.io/JustWatch-Search/title/tm108540

• https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/naked-weapon

Info

• Wikipedia

• IMDb 5.5/10

Personnel

• Director: Tony Ching Siu-tung (Chinese Ghost Story, The Swordsman, Dr. Wai in 'The Scripture with No Words'; action choreographer for Shaolin Soccer)

• Writer & Producer: Wong Jing (Naked Killer, Future Cops)

Cast

• Maggie Q

• Anya Wu

• Daniel Wu

Opinion

Thinking about Category III movies (see here), I searched for Wong Jing-directed Naked Killer but could only find Wong Jing-scripted Naked Weapon. (Which I don't think was rated Cat III.)

Around the world, 40 sporty 13-year-old girls are kidnapped and taken to a tropical island to be trained as assassins... which is, like, totally not an excuse to have six years later lots of sweaty girl-on-girl action in skimpy thin cotton outfits.

With the exception of an unnecessary rape scene (if you want to skip it, it's ||right after they drink the wine Madame offers them||), this actually manages to be a decent action movie, far less schlocky than I was expecting... until the last 20 minutes, when the director decides to dial up the wire fu, bullet time and sappiness to 11.

The film tends to flag every time we get Daniel Wu's CIA agent, but Maggie Q does well in the lead.

A 7 out of 10, imho.

Screenshots

(Suffering a little compression going through various apps and Pixelfed)

Slinky model assassin knows snake style!

Caption should have read "Pew, pew!"

Emotional support soaping

A slice and a miss!

I think I remember this one from the Kama Sutra... the Congress of the Thigh Lock?

Don't show. Tell!

She'll seduce you... just before she kills you!

Is Dennis Chan (Kickboxer, Future Cops)... checking this woman out in her moment of grief???

Commence romance!

Final battle