Black Mask (Blu-ray)

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Jet Li made the giant leap from an Asian movie star to an international sensation when "Lethal Weapon 4" hit theaters ten years ago. It was around the same time when studio executives knew they had struck a nugget of box office gold and signed the charismatic Chinese actor for numerous Hollywood action projects like "Romeo Must Die" (2000), "Kiss of the Dragon" (2001) and "The One" (2001). Of course, those productions were still in the early stages, so in the meantime someone dusted off Hong Kong's "Hak Hap" (1996) and prepped it for a North American release as "Black Mask" (1999).

Nearly a decade later, the folks at Lionsgate saw dollar signs once again when they decided to give "Black Mask" the Blu-ray treatment. When I received a copy for review it was the first chance I ever had to see the movie and saying that it was a disappointing experience is an understatement. I wasn't just let down by the lame movie that really didn't do anything for me at all, but also the shoddy quality of the disc itself. I'll cover more on that later.

Anyway, the plot for "Black Mask" is a relatively simple one. The story revolves around a top-secret military project where a group of biologically enhanced super-soldiers called the 701 Squad were created to combat an escalating war between powerful crime lords. All of the test subjects were given increased strength, stamina, and a very high tolerance for pain--creating the perfect killing machines. But as it usually goes when science meddles with nature, a few of the soldiers started showing signs of mental instability as an unforeseen side effect. After one of the commandos goes completely postal in one of the training facilities, the Chinese government decides to terminate the program and the soldiers involved.

But before the order was carried out, some of the 701s caught wind of the situation and managed to launch a daring escape. One of these guinea pigs is Michael (Jet Li) who makes it out of the place with his main squeeze, Cailyn (Françoise Yip). Just when they think they're nearly home free, tragedy strikes and Cailyn falls. After the dust settles, Michael slips away believing that he's the only survivor.

A year later, Michael has changed his name to Simon and is now a meek and mellow librarian trying to put his violent past behind him. He's made a few friends in Tracy (Karen Mok), a fellow library employee, and a hard-nosed detective in the police force named Rock (Lau Ching Wan). Rock is the city's resident super-cop, so Michael knows that the streets are in capable hands.

This all changes when a large number of bodies start turning up all over the city, and Michael soon learns that some of his former 701s made it out alive and are responsible for the killings. Since the police department and even Rock are completely helpless against a bunch of nearly invulnerable assassins, Michael sees that the only option is to fight fire with fire by becoming a vigilante hero called the Black Mask.

I've read over at IMDB.com that "Black Mask" is really supposed to be an action-comedy, and one comment even stated that when Jet Li dons his black mask and chauffeur cap its actually supposed to be a spoof on Kato from "The Green Hornet." Well, if that's true, it was executed poorly in the film because I didn't crack a single smile during the entire ninety minutes. Even the usual unintentional humor was nowhere to be found.

In my mind, "Black Mask" is mostly a patchwork creation of comic book personalities without a single ounce of originality. We have a Kato look-alike (Green Hornet)--that was part of a super-soldier experiment (Captain America)--that uses gadgets, grappling lines, and the martial arts to stop criminals (Batman)--and has a secret identity of an ordinary Joe (Superman). It was more irritating than entertaining.

Then we have the 701s led by the Commander (Kong Lung). Now when I envision someone called the "Commander," I tend to picture a rugged and weathered stubbly bad-ass in army fatigues and maybe a crew cut, barking orders to his subordinates while chomping down on a cigar. I know it's a cliché, but still, this makes logical sense to me. What doesn't make sense is inserting a creepy gothic kingpin with long hair and stylish sunglasses, clad in a black cloak and matching cape, operating out of a sewer perched on a Victorian-style throne. I really don't know what director Daniel Lee or the writers were thinking, unless one of them was midway through an Anne Rice novel at the time.