Summary
An abused young woman, played by Dong Anh Quynh, joins up with a female outfit dedicated to violently taking down the male dominated criminal underworld of Saigon.
In many senses I was expecting more from this film. I can’t speak to the film that this serves as a prequel to as I haven’t seen it, this was my first entry to the franchise. From the trailer I watched prior to viewing I was expecting beautifully choreographed brutal fight scenes, ala The Raid, but this was a million miles away from that. What surprised me the most in this regard is just how bloodless this film is, like you see people getting shot and stabbed but in terms of genre standards you don’t see much blood. Moreover, the action itself isn’t all that brutal as shots aren’t lingered on to their full effect, there are a lot of quick cuts to give off the illusion of rapid movement, but this isn’t in the films benefit.
Furthermore, the narrative of women getting their own back on evil men is nothing new. In a sense this film feels very similar to the rape revenge sub-genre but with a more action leaning. What’s more, there aren’t really any twists and turns to keep you guessing either, from a narrative lens everything is incredibly obvious and you are never in a position to be surprised. Even when you get the twist at the end you have already seen it coming.
Overall, a subpar action film that doesn’t deliver the goods.
2/5
Pros.
An introduction to Vietnamese cinema
A killer soundtrack
Cons.
The action is bloodless and often cut away from
The story is very pedestrian and familiar
It has pacing issues
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Another Millennial Reviewer 