I recently reviewed ‘Duel of the 7 Tigers’ featuring a career-best performance by Phillip Ko. Ko was a beloved figure in the genre who moved to almost single-handedly keeping the fighting femme sub-genre going, long past its mid-80s height. By the mid-90s though, interest was drying up and budgets became tighter…and so to ‘Angel on Fire’.
Model and thief May steals a priceless treasure from Shaolin Temple (a hilarious trinket that’s kept in a cupboard drawer and looks like the kind of homemade jewellery a 12-year-old might attempt when they want to earn extra pocket money). Instead of giving it to her boss (Phillip Ko), she decides to find her own buyer and keep the profits herself, leading to her going on the run in the Philippines. On her tail is a Hong Kong policewoman (Cynthia Khan) and (allegedly) a Chinese officer (Sharon Yeung), the former being aided by a local taxi driver she has befriended. Meanwhile, May’s boss is hunting her to get the treasure and punish her betrayal.
I read a review suggesting that ‘Angel on Fire’ was edited with a butcher’s knife, but I would suggest said editor had some form of narcolepsy in addition to a lack of finesse. That can be the only explanation for the way some characters flit in and out of the film without purpose despite the build-up suggesting they would have a major part to play. Sharon Yeung appears at the beginning, briefly in the middle and for the finale in a manner that gives very Godfrey Ho vibes. Perhaps Yeung saw what Khan was left with and decided to keep her screen time at a premium.
‘Angel on Fire’ has a few moderately diverting fight scenes, but is a dull affair otherwise. The lovely Cynthia Khan is much better than the material but does her best, while the supporting players do little to stir interest. The whole quest for the trinket is done with such little care that the viewer is happy to share the apathy towards the storyline. Striking model Melanie Marquez frowns a lot, Phillip Ko appears out of thin air, Mark Houghton pops up at the end for no particular reason and the whole thing feels like a waste of ninety minutes.
