Stringer Hong Kong at the turn of the 80s and 90s was an amazing place. Imagine a geographically small city in which every day somewhere is necessarily shooting another film. It does not matter what section of production you work in, whether it is acting or managing a mobile buffet, the main thing is that you are in demand - in this case, you have the opportunity to visit many film sets of various studios, films and directors in the shortest possible time.
And if you do not just mechanically perform the duties of your work, and simultaneously observe other processes, you can master at least one film science. The greatness of Hong Kong at the time was due in part to its multifunctional workforce. It rarely survived purebred actors, directors, screenwriters and so on. Films are filmed a damn cloud, while the budgets are very modest, and therefore the studio highly appreciated people who can write dialogues in the morning, dub the star in the afternoon and play a cameo role, and in the evening mount the filmed material.
One of the worthy self-taught people raised by the Hong Kong approach of the 80s is Man Hoi. In the '70s, he did what everyone who wanted to succeed in film did: stuntman. Then he followed his teacher Corey Yuen, mastered directing and staging action. And finally he got the go-ahead from Sammo Hung to shoot his debut. From the big name of the studios 'Golden Harvest' and 'Bo Ho', with a luxurious cast at his disposal and Corey Yuen himself as a choreographer. That's what I call trust. Well, or counting on the fact that if something went drastically wrong in the process, Sammo would throw Hoy out of the director's chair, put Corey in there, and Man would debut in another, less expensive film. Still, the trick went well: directing was one of the strongest sides of the film. There are many beautiful moments for which I want to watch the whole movie. For example, when lazy journalists imitated photo correspondence from the scene of the murder without getting out of the editorial office. Or when the judge gives the prosecutor a chance to defend the prosecution over and over again, and he keeps talking nonsense. The long battle of views Cynthia Rothrock and Billy Chow turned out to be almost more effective than the fight itself. If you want to satisfy me, you will need a lot of strength - How do you talk to him? - You better go out, we'll have fun now. Chin Siu Ho also stylishly began the fight with a tall opponent: pretended to rub his hair, and made a jerk ... Man Hoi definitely took advantage of a gang of charismatic actors for a hundred, and composer Chris Babida amplified the already rich episodes with a cool soundtrack.
The action became a border stake that cut off the “Fury of the Blonde” from the club of masterpieces and left to vegetate among the strongmen. There were no failed skirmishes, as there were no outstanding ones, but three-man and good-man fighters in the action movie in half. All the best we see in unarmed fights, and as soon as Cynthia picks up a stick, or begins to run or jump from place to place, fleeing from a horde of bots, it becomes boring. Unfortunately, the final showdown turned out to be completely nondescript, but I must say, by the time of its onset, the viewer will have time to enjoy several cool fights. Since the film tried to capitalize on the illusion of the continuation of “Evil for Good”, let’s try to understand why the action did not reach the level of a pseudo-prequel, although the director is still the same. First, in Evil for Good, half of the attention was taken by Yuan Biao, whose arsenal of techniques knows no limit. Secondly, that film was heavily cut into gluing, as not too fast Cynthia was duplicated almost everywhere, as a result of which the fights looked more dynamic. In addition, in some places, reproduction was accelerated. “The fury of the blonde” is more honest with the viewer: Cynthia is replaced by stuntmen only in choreographically difficult and tricky dangerous moments, a lot of Man Hoy allowed Rothrock to perform independently. You can grumble that against the background of lightning-fast movements of Chin Siu Ho and Billy Chow, Cynthia’s performance looks scant, but the action with her participation turned out to be more or less realistic.
The key trump card of the film I consider the role in which Rothrock appeared before the viewer. In "On Performance" and "Best Squad", she played the image of a bitchy policewoman, was magnificent and, of course, beautiful, but devoid of sexuality. Here, on the contrary, Cynthia shoots mischievous eyes and smiles charmingly. Nowhere else have I seen my favorite actress so feminine, bravo, Man Hoi. Yes, it's a pity that this guy in the direction and did not plunge, the cinema lost a lot.
Perhaps, with this film novice moviegoers should start exploring British Hong Kong. The plot, atmosphere and action of Blonde Fury reflect the handwriting of most tribesmen, so it is unlikely that with a sharp rejection of the film you should try to watch other Hong Kong films of the 80s and 90s. This is a special section of history, such a movie cannot be criticized rationally, it must be perceived through the prism of emotions.
7 out of 10