Silver Hawk (2004) User Reviews

Decent kung fu/sci-fi/superhero mix

[sarastro7 · 6/10 · 20 January 2005]

Asia doesn't have many bona-fide superheroes in their fantastic fiction; they tend to have kung fu masters and such, but apart from Black Mask (which was very mediocre) I don't think I've seen any other real Asian superhero movies except for this one; Silver Hawk. It is a true combo of kung fu and super-heroics, as the main character, Lulu Wong (Michelle Yeoh), has excelled in the martial arts since childhood and have found a way to use her martial arts for the good of all society as the silver-costumed hero Silver Hawk.

The movie takes place in the future, where they have holographic mahjong and some brand-new mind-reading devices. Stylistically, everything is entirely kept in ice-blue glass and metal, which all looks sleek and cool, but also rather cold and inhuman.

A human dimension is added, however, in the childhood flashbacks, where a lot of connections are drawn to Silver Hawk's adult life. For instance, the reason she wears a mask is because she did so as a kid, too, to disguise her identity when she was kung fu brawling in defiance of her teachers' orders. This cross-time dimension with her childhood works very well indeed, also because she runs into her childhood friend again as an adult, his having become a police chief. Initially he wants to catch Silver Hawk, but as soon as he finds out who she is, he starts working with her.

The bad guy (supervillain, really), Fire Wolf, is quite dull, and his plan not very well described. There are a couple of plot holes in the story, too, and while the action is pretty good, the fighting isn't spectacular. But still a relatively good and watchable movie. I rate it a 6 out of 10.

I'm very interested in movies that combine kung fu and science fiction. My list so far includes Silver Hawk, Avenging Fist, Jet Li's The One, and, of course, the Matrix Trilogy, and Equilibrium. And also, Star Wars, sort of, since the Jedi abilities are a form of martial arts... I hope to discover more movies with kung fu and sci-fi combined.

Martial Arts Fightin' Super Chick Action... Woo Hoo!

[hokeybutt · 6/10 · 26 June 2004]

SILVER HAWK (3 outta 5 stars)

Pretty decent action-hero yarn starring Michelle Yeoh as the title character... who dresses up in a silver coat and mask and goes around beating up bad guys and making the police look bad. She meets up with a childhood sweetheart who now happens to be in charge of a police task force devoted to putting a stop to her vigilante tactics. They are forced to team up to fight a madman with a plan to take over the world with some mind-altering telephone technology. The story is pretty standard... but the stunts and fights (which are very reminiscent of The Matrix and Tomb Raider movies) are fun. I was glad to see that, while the movie does have lots of humour, the movie is not too "camp". Fun for the whole family!

Cool light-hearted Sci-fi Action B Movie. NB: Very weird dubbing.

[Zombified_660 · 6/10 · 9 April 2006]

Silver Hawk is an enjoyable Cantonese take on the superhero genre. As such it's much more enjoyable than recent US additions like Spiderman 2 or Daredevil, taking a very Blade-like 'Good vs Evil in a knock-down drag out fight' approach as opposed to going for the 'tortured hero' take on things American directors seem to dig. If you want depth you are firmly looking in the wrong place (go for the original 80s Batman maybe?), but if you want action, humour and incredibly sharp fight choreography, you've come to the right place.

It's similar in style to both Blade and Sam Raimi's Darkman, also taking cues from recent Hong Kong movies like Twins Effect. It has a fantastic look, good strong characters and a simple but effective plot that keeps you glued to your seat. Additional praise must be heaped on leading lady Michelle Yeoh. Much like Jackie Chan, despite many would-be successors coming and going since her debut in the 80s, she still has what it takes to front an action movie in spades. She not only makes Silver Hawk a genuinely likable and unique presence, she's also still a mesmerizing fighter to watch. The fights in this movie are really good, some of the best non-period kung-fu I've seen since the likes of Versus. They're played with humour by Yeoh, with Silver Hawk cockily dancing around baddies before kicking their teeth in, but they're still imbued with an impact missing from many similar films.

So why the 6? Firstly, Silver Hawk is incredibly lightweight. If it wasn't for the balletic and convincing fight scenes, this movie could probably have been a 12A or even a PG, it's like a Bond movie only with a female lead. Get boy, send bad guys home with bloody nose, end. It's simple, and that's why it works so well, but it doesn't have much depth, and I'll mainly re-watch it to enjoy the great fights and Yeoh being cool as she always is.

Then there's the dub. It's not, as I originally thought, an entirely Americanised dub. It's like Gen X Cops 2, in that it's dual language, always has been, and was intended for dual release. However, much like a lot of Jackie Chan's movies and Jet Li's earlier films, it's dubbed in quite a slapdash fashion, in a sloppy manner that makes it obvious all the actors except Yeoh and Luke Goss have been re-dubbed by voice-over actors, and that Yeoh and Goss voices were added at post-production instead of using the original recordings. It's not awful, and it compares favourably with some more suspect re-dubs, but it's still glaringly obvious that most characters are not being voiced by the original actors, and that the voice-over wasn't done in sync with the film, it was done off in some studio somewhere with just a script. If you think you can put up with that better than I did (I couldn't help wincing during certain scenes, such was the complete disconnection between dialogue and on-screen action) add a point to the score, and if you don't watch subs, add two. That's the best way to approach it really.

Basically Silver Hawk is really good fun, a cool superhero movie with a great heroine played by a great actress. It's fast, funny and has really good fight scenes, but you could get put off by the awkward dub. It's good enough that I think it's worth the effort, and I'll definitely be watching it again soon.

Masked Michelle

[esteepswong · 30 January 2004]

In this movie, Michelle Yeoh plays Lulu Wong, a much-idolised rock star and philanthropist by day, and a super heroine, Silver Hawk, who fights injustice in skin-tight black leather outfit as her alter-ego. Richie Ren plays police detective Richman, who has an uncanny instinct and incredible wit, but he hates Silver Hawk for being always two steps ahead of the police. Both of them, however join hands to fight a baddie, Wolfe (Luke Goss) who wants to dominate the world through a special microchip in mobile phones which will broadcast subliminal message to users.

Directed by cinematographer-turned-director Jingle Ma (Hot War, Tokyo Raiders, Summer Holiday, Goodbye,Mr.Cool and Para Para Sakura), the action scenes are beautifully choreographed, especially the one where a group of bungee jumpers armed with hockey sticks attacking our heroine in an outdoor arena. The opening sequence is also awesome with Yeoh riding a motorcycle and jumping over the Great Wall of China. There's also ample use of CGI to enhance the action sequences throughout the movie. Although the script is pretty straight forward, Ma succeeds in presenting the story in an entertaining way with constant flashbacks to the past when Lulu and Richman were studying at a Shaolin Temple. The two kids who play them are excellent, especially the boy.

Yeoh is a delight to watch. She looks great in her well-designed outfits and executes her fighting scenes with style and finesse. Her experience in martial arts helped tremendously. Providing comic relief is Brandon Chang, who plays a computer whiz kid who constantly pops up to annoy Richie Ren. Wolfe's role was downplayed. Instead his two assassins played by Bingbing Li and Michael Jai White (Universal Soldier: The Return and Spawn) got most of the action. Surprisingly, both of them had no dialogue in the movie.

Nonetheless, Silver Hawk is an entertaining movie which promises good laughs and visual delights for this Lunar New Year.

Silly Superhero-movie

[Enchorde · 5/10 · 30 August 2006]

Recap: Mystic heroine Silver Hawk is both a terror for the criminals but also sought by the police. Now Rich Man is brought to Polaris to finally bring her before justice. What he hadn't counted on was her massive fan support and what he don't know is that the young famous Lulu, who he tried to impress on the flight in, is really our heroine, and that she got more tricks up her sleeve than he can count. But the peace isn't going to last. First a known scientist, specialized in AI, is kidnapped under their noses, and then the daughter of powerful industrialist, and personal friend of Lulu, is kidnapped as well. A known terrorist is behind the scheme and plans to take over and rule the world with the aid of our cellular phones. Can Silver Hawk stop him?

Comments: Oh this is just plain silly. In fact, it resembles most a child's fantasy of a child that grows up to become beautiful, rich and the mystic heroine that toys with her opponents. There is absolutely no suspense, the story is thin like paper, the one-liners silly and the taunts and showing off during fights abundant. Well, the fights are abundant too, and actually there are some nice fights, if you like those choreographed dances/fights. Other than that, there isn't much to hope for...

Entertainment for a rainy, dark and dull fall afternoon, nothing more.

5/10

Hollywoodized Hong Kong movie does offer some eye-candy

[gridoon · 5/10 · 25 October 2006]

In the 90s, you could often see American martial arts films being influenced by Hong Kong action cinema. But these days, it seems that this trend has been reversed, and now we have Hong Kong movies trying too hard to be like Hollywood. From the fight scenes, which suffer from too much fast cutting, too much CGI, too much imitation-Matrix style, to the outrunning-the-explosion finale, "Silver Hawk" is one such movie. However, there are still a few glimpses of the old-times HK brilliance to be found, and the film certainly scores in the eye-candy department: Michelle Yeoh looks dazzling (if a little too made-up at times), Bing Bing Li (appearing each time with a different hair color, but always in a mini-skirt - thank God!) is easily one of the hottest bad chicks of the current decade, and there is also a female police officer (with a very limited role) who is simply gorgeous. In fact, I would go so far as to say that EVERY girl in this movie is pure beauty. But the film as a whole is not as entertaining or action-packed as "Black Mask 2", in which the computer effects are also more justified by the mutated heroes' superpowers. Watch that one first. (**)

I wouldn't use the word wonderful

[zoppi14 · 4/10 · 4 February 2004]

This is one of those near-matrix clones with its special effects and mighty leaps. Made in Hong Kong, and it can be noticed. The concept of movie making differs from the Hollywood ones, but not too much. I am sick and tired of those unrealistic leaps and movements, which were designed to Matrix. Those effects shouldn't be part of these ordinary action movies. I don't recommend this to anyone. ** out of *****

Schlocky and Fun!!!

[masercot · 7/10 · 5 November 2006]

I won't lie. I LOVE Michelle Yeoh. I would watch a ninety minute movie in which she simply reads a phone book (not two hours, though...I'm not that big a fan). From the beginning of this movie to the end, they give you what you want: Michelle Yeoh, kicking butt...

Her Silver Hawk costume is simply silver cloth and hotpants. The best special effect is her motorcycle. My son was immediately reminded of Batgirl.

But, Yeoh is fun...smiling as she beats up villains, giggling with her female friends...far from the solemn character that she was in Crouching Tiger. Her personality was much more like Wing Chun.

The martial arts sequences are good and you can see that Yeoh did a lot of her own stunts. The villain looks particularly villainous. There is very little death in this and the violence is cartoonish.

A joy to watch!

Conflicted and Uneven. AKA: SILVER HAWK

[FiendishDramaturgy · 4/10 · 21 April 2007]

AKA: SILVER HAWK

The only highlight to this movie was the visuals. The story is nothing new, the acting is only adequate, and the direction seems to lack the ability to decide just what it wants to be. This seems to be an ill-fated remake of I, Robot one moment, and a martial arts movie the next. The effects are good, but the martial arts elements are heavily overdone, as are the performances. Were it not for the technology featured herein, this work could easily have been made in the 1970's. Honestly, the content quality isn't much better than that.

I wasn't expecting much, and it's a good thing. If you expect anything more than mild enjoyment, you could be severely disappointed.

And the visuals? They are good, but not great. You could definitely profit from finding something more useful to do with your time. This can go completely unnoticed, and we wouldn't miss a thing.

It rates a 3.7/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Not great, but Michelle Yeoh is reason enough to see this

[AwesomeWolf · 6/10 · 7 November 2004]

I've been a fan of Michelle Yeoh ever since I saw 'Supercop' a few years ago. In fact, having not previously heard of 'Silver Hawk', I bought it based solely on the fact that Michelle Yeoh was featured on the cover in a kick-arse pose. I regret nothing.

Lulu Wong (Michelle Yeoh) is a Hong Kong celebrity who happens to have a secret: She is the masked super-hero Silver Hawk. Silver Hawk just happens to be in the neighbourhood whenever there is trouble ('neighbourhood' can refer to a Hong Kong alley, the Great Wall of China, etc). The Hong Kong police are out to catch Silver Hawk, as it seems she's been making them look like fools. I don't see what the problem is: if I was a Hong Kong cop, I'd sit back and let her do all the work, and I'd be paid to do nothing. Coincidentally, the new police superintendent Richman (Richie Ren) happen's to be a childhood friend of Lulu's - they were orphans together at the Shaolin temple (really, how can a crime-fighter be taken seriously if they haven't studied at the Shaolin temple?).

Meanwhile, Professor Chung (Daming Chen) publicly shows off his latest: invention: an AI chip that can scan a person's body, and then decide (better than the person themselves) what is good for them. The Professor doesn't quite understand why the AI chip is poorly received by the crowd, until he runs into trouble with Alexander Wolfe (Luke Goss) an English pop star turned super villain. Wolfe's sinister scheme is to combine the chip with the latest in mobile phone technology, so he can brainwash the population, unless Silver Hawk can stop him.

'Silver Hawk' is a bit odd for a kung-fu film. It is sleek but silly, occasionally suffers from an awkward imbalance between a serious and silly tone, and then switches from reality to over the top super-heroics. Sure, these are characteristics found frequently in Hong Kong kung-fu movies, but 'Silver Hawk' seems a bit different. I can't quite put my finger on it. It is fun, but it seems like HK cinema borrowing from 'The Matrix' (rather than 'The Matrix' borrowing from HK cinema).

'Silver Hawk' features some pretty cool action scenes, namely Michelle taking on villains on bungee cords, or an evil in-line hockey team. The fights are generally fun (I'll get to those in a minute). A lot of the comedy and character interaction - especially between Michelle and Richie - seemed rather awkward, but it was entertaining anyway. I think the main strength of 'Silver Hawk' is that it looked like Michelle was having a lot fun filming. I mean, she got to play with Batman-esquire Hawk-erangs - who wouldn't have with those?

I mentioned the fight scenes being fun to watch. Conversely, they also present one of the film's weaknesses: 'Silver Hawk' goes for too much of flashy, Hollywood look. It looks sleek, but I couldn't help but think that it could have been done better. The villains were generally unimposing and uninteresting, and the story could have been better polished.

'Silver Hawk' may not be the best super-hero, or kung-fu, or Michelle Yeoh movie around, but take it for what it is: a fan way to kill time. Recommended for fans of Michelle Yeoh - 6/10

A Vogue Martial Arts Movie

[Vincent_B · 4/10 · 22 July 2006]

This is the typical Asian Martial Arts cookie cutter movie with a female crime fighter spin. The bad guys are very stereotyped "world domination" megalomaniacs. As this movie opens we see the super hero chase down "bad guys" in a semi for unknown reasons. I was thinking drugs, stolen art, jewels, maybe even bananas? No a panda bear! OK and by mid-movie I am wondering where the Power Rangers are and why they must pose and vogue during each and every fight sequence. Team Rocket from the cartoon series Pokemon showed up but they failed to do their motto. This movie is better than most Kung-Fu pictures especially the ones made in the 1970's. But I would not buy it or pay a lot to watch it, the rental was only 50 cents. But I like the one fight scene where the Incredible Bungie Men attack. This movie was definitely worth the 50 cents.

Goofy, Superficial Fun

[chez22 · 8/10 · 10 February 2007]

My wife and I just watched this tonight on Showtime. A rare occasion where we had nothing to do and there was nothing else on.

I certainly agree with the first reviewer, too many Western-style jump cuts, CGI and Matrix- style fight scenes.

With that said, it's all in good fun. The whole movie is pretty silly, but in a good-spirited way. It's odd enough in a Hong Kong sci-fi action way to keep one's interest. The art direction is superb, along with the costume design.

I'll also agree with the first reviewer that there's lots of eye candy. Beautiful Asian women in sexy costumes. Seems every woman in the movie, no matter how small the role is a knockout and dressed to the nines. Michelle Yeoh, in the lead role, seems to have a different hairstyle and outfit in every scene.

If it's on cable, or there's nothing else available at the video store and you're a fan of kitchy Hong Kong action, it's certainly worth a look.

Michel Yeoh in one of her best movies!

[masamura2000 · 6/10 · 1 February 2004]

My wife and I didn't expect much from this film, knowing that it has the worst box office in the past ten years for a Chinese New Year release and how much we loathed "The Touch"... However, being a sucker for bad movies, I opted for the action movie rather than the other usual comedies and I wasn't disappointed at all. Yes, the dialogues might be a bit dodgy, a common flaw amongst Hong Kong production nowadays, trying to look "Hollywood-esque" but we were there for the action and we got what we were looking for, great fight sequence with each character having his/her own fighting style.

I have seen most of Yeoh's movies and this one ranked right at the top with "crouching tiger hidden dragon". Most of her film roles were forgettable but "silver hawk" at least leaves a more lasting impression albeit Yeoh really begin to look her years. I certainly hope that a sequel would follow but judging from the box-office, I might be pushing too far.

Bad Movie Do Not Watch

[raptorextirme · 1/10 · 4 March 2006]

In many ways this movie is like batman I mean its a female crime fighter unlike batman being male. The movie had her history and the history of her so called brother who is a police officer. The movie is poorly designed in the regards of script. The movies main selling point is the female crime fighter. The crime fighter has a selfish need to be the center of the combat and not let others help her out. The crime fighter happens to be very conceded. She also needs to learn how to relay on others to help her out. Only twice in the movie did she ever let anyone help her.The first time was when she asked Kit for help. The second time she allowed anyone to help was in the last battle when she let her brother do his trade mark move which destroyed the window behind him.

No stuntwomen were harmed in the writing of this review.

[sadie_thompson · 11 August 2004]

Michelle Yeoh is apparently trying to kill herself, or at least damage something. The woman will do anything, regardless of how potentially painful it can be. This movie is a little bit tamer than other things I've seen her do, but still. She induces flinching. (I loved watching my mother's face when I made her watch Supercop--the scene where Michelle hung off the side of a van, only to fall off and crash through Jackie Chan's windshield caused Mom some anxiety. I of course piped up, "Michelle Yeoh does all of her own stunts. Jackie Chan isn't the only one.")

Anyway, this movie is about Lulu Wong, a hugely famous woman--she's famous because she's rich, apparently. (What's nifty about Michelle Yeoh playing Lulu is that you can see Michelle being stylish. She isn't usually--it's also interesting that Lulu seems to be MUCH younger than Michelle actually is. Good acting there, Michelle!) Lulu wears all white, and has all kinds of wigs and different hairdos. She knows everyone, everyone loves her, she's perfect. That's her main identity. When criminals strike, she dons a silver mask, a silver suit, a silver jacket, and dashes to the scene on a silver BMW motorcycle. (Gorgeous bike.) Silver Hawk is an appropriate name, as you can see. She has little silver blade things, like Batman's batarangs, or whatever they were called, but she only uses those to disarm people. Once they're empty-handed she starts the a**kicking. The first scene of the movie is the best--the movie starts off with Michelle (I'm assuming it's The Stuntwoman herself) jumping over the Great Wall of China on her bike in pursuit of some poachers. The cinematography here is marvelous. Once she catches them she beats them mercilessly, but it looks beautiful. It doesn't seem like wire-work, but if it isn't then Michelle Yeoh isn't affected by gravity. She does an incredible kick on several of the poor criminals--she runs up the front of a van, then does some sort of pinwheeling roundhouse kick in midair. All of this is in slow-motion, and I actually think real-time would have been more effective. Once the crooks are in a heap on the ground, Silver Hawk reveals her disappointment. "Give me ten more minutes," she asks. Five? Two? By this time the criminals have tied themselves up and completely surrendered. See, Lulu has to put herself in danger to get excited, but since she's such a great fighter she's never really in a perilous situation. (When I said excited, I didn't mean that this is a porno movie. I mean that some people ride roller coasters, others fight crime.)

After that great opening sequence, we're treated to a plot. Professor Ho Chung (one of Lulu's love interests) has developed a completely idiotic artificial intelligence chip that supposedly increases the wearer's standard of living. We see it tested on a young lady--a holographic English butler appears and informs her that she is 48 days pregnant. A co-worker of hers confirms this, yelling, "That's incredible! We only found out yesterday.!" I found myself wondering if the transparent English butler had Tact 2000, a program few people seem to possess. What if the lady didn't want everyone to know she was pregnant? Could the AI detect that, or will it just humiliate everyone endlessly? The guinea pig doesn't seem to mind, she just smiles. An assistant brings her a drink, and the butler explains that the AI taps into your most primitive impulses, in this case thirst. (That amused me--what would it do if someone had a certain other primitive impulse?!?) Finally, it demands that she do some prenatal exercises. She doesn't want to, but the butler isn't taking no for an answer. Finally, the demonstration is concluded. When Professor Chung asks Lulu what she thought, she tells him flat out that she doesn't like it. I don't blame her--she isn't fond of people telling her what to do. HOWEVER... ...enter Alexander Wolfe, a nut with an English accent. He is very fond of telling people what to do, via secret subliminal messaging, preferably. This new device seems to be perfect for his plan, so he sends MICHAEL JAI WHITE to kidnap the professor. (Don't send a Spawn to do a kung-fu master's job.) Once that's done, Wolfe reveals his silly plan--he is going to place the chip into millions of cell phones, and at a certain time he will play the aforementioned subliminal messages. A technology mogul's daughter is kidnapped also, so that Wolfe can force the mogul to place the chips into a new phone model. He does, and Lulu (remember her?) wonders why. She decides to take matters into her own silver-gloved hands.

As it happens, the new police superintendent used to be a friend of Lulu's, and even more coincidentally, he despises Silver Hawk. How can they work together, you ask? Not very well, is how. He has no idea that Lulu and Silver Hawk are the same person, even though anyone with at least one sense could figure it out. (Silver Hawk looks like Lulu, she sounds like her, she might even smell like her, I'm not sure. You get my point.) So, while they have to save the world they also have to contend with each other. The superintendent, Rich Man, is more interested in arresting Silver Hawk than anything else, especially when she humiliates him in front of some teenagers. (He dressed himself in drag, so maybe he shouldn't be so hard on her.) Eventually it comes to the point where Rich Man has to knuckle under and just deal with it.

This was a good action movie, with several nifty fights and some funny parts. I had a couple of gripes, though, and I might as well vent. First--Michelle didn't get to do all the cool stuff the bad guys go to do. For instance, when Silver Hawk first runs into Alexander Wolfe, his minions bounce around and fly through the air using huge rubber bands. It looks incredibly fun, but Michelle is grounded. She has to run around getting kicked in the face. By the time she gets her leg up to kick back, the person has already flown away. It's just that she could have done wonders with that. This same problem pops up in the last fight with Wolfe's goons. They zoom around on rollerblades with hockey sticks. Not Michelle. She has to hit them as they fly by. Again. It could be that Michelle Yeoh didn't want to do these things. That's okay. If for some reason behind the scenes they just decided that she wouldn't do it, that's not okay. She is Silver Hawk--she should fly. Second--this movie falls prey to another problem that's rampant in Michelle Yeoh's films. She's absent for long stretches at a time. Eventually, you get wrapped up in something else and then she pops up again just when you least expected her. That happened in "Royal Warriors," "Supercop," "Supercop 2," "Butterfly and Sword," and gosh, even "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon." I don't want to sit there wondering what happened to her. Did her character die, or just get fed up? Maybe if I had an explanation of why this is done. I realize that Michelle Yeoh gets injured frequently, and that's understandable. Is that the deal? Do they have to shoot around her? Someone fill me in, please. I guess I'm used to Brigitte Lin's films--there is rarely a moment where she doesn't appear. Even if one pops up the filmmaker makes darn sure that you'll think about her. Someone please give Michelle Yeoh the same courtesy.

Lone Ranger, female Chinese version

[siderite · 5/10 · 4 September 2005]

OK, this movie starts out with an action scene. The scene is horribly performed and directed, with slow-mos and stop-frames in the weirdest moments. The hero is like a comic-book hero, cape and weird bat-man like devices included, only female. She beats up an entire group of trained guards in order to get to their cargo: pandas, probably illegally smuggled. Her sidekick is a "smart" motorcycle which comes on command and can be remotely controlled. Come on! How lame is that? Hi Oh Silver, away! all over again. Silver being the key word :)

The film continues much like the first scene, with a lot of bad dialog, repetitive action moves and cliché bad guys. (translated into Chinese: arrogant Europeans with a black American henchman). I did wonder why Michael Jai White and Luke Goss accepted to play in this movie. They probably needed money badly.

I give this movie a five, because it is a very bad movie, but that actually doesn't surprise me. I expected that from the very first scene, so at least it was an honest movie.

Silver Hawk

[phubbs · 5/10 · 30 September 2014]

So you thought 'The Avengers' was a good comic book flick huh? well move over Iron Man Captain America and Hulk...move over for Silver Hawk!!!

Not too dissimilar from various other Far Eastern fantasy martial arts flicks, this film merely came to my attention due to the casting of Michael Jai White, Luke Goss and the gorgeous Michelle Yeoh. Its your basic comic book character action film but the hero is a heroine (Yeoh) and she isn't exactly a superhero but more like Iron Man, a person with money who fights crime in a nifty suit.

Well I say nifty suit, this suit simply looks like silver spandex with some silver painted goggles on her head and a long silver flapping coat. The thing that is so silly with this is everyone is virtually dressed in silver, all the bad guys and henchmen are in silver armour and everyone uses silver weapons or gadgets.

Surprisingly Jai White is a silent bad guy henchmen in this (looking like a certain character out of Mortal Kombat and with some Biggles head wear for some reason) and unsurprisingly Goss is the main villain. He is dressed in a Matrix style full length silver trench coat (indeed) with prosthetic silver metal forearms and looking like Richard O' Brien's brother. The action is tame but reasonably well choreographed, nothing amazing but it does the job with no strong violence or blood.

All of the film is pure comic book silliness which does look like something made for TV but a lot of Asian movies can look like this. You could almost think of this as a Chinese 'Batman and Robin' complete with fighting bad guys on bungee ropes, rollerblading ice hockey bad guys and Silver Hawk has her own Batbike type vehicle, its just not as camp. Well...that is until you see Goss in his skintight shiny silver vinyl costume towards the end.

5/10

OMG!! I have never watched anything as bad as this...ever...really....

[mespohn · 1/10 · 29 July 2015]

I actually wanted to hurt myself so I would not have to finish this movie. My daughter made me continue watching it just to torture me. Please do not watch this movie, it is awful in every possible way. I kept looking at how much time was left over and over again and was amazed to find how slowly time seemed to pass when I watched this nightmare.

In summary I can only recommend this movie to someone dying of a terminal disease and only has 100 minutes left to live. By watching this it will seem as if you have a lifetime left.

I actually looked through my medicine cabinet a few times during the movie to see what drugs i could take that might ease the pain of watching this movie some.......unfortunately nothing helped.

Decent movie, but could have been better

[BluesManBDR529 · 6/10 · 11 November 2005]

I love Asian action movies. So when I saw the case for this, I had to check it out and picked up the DVD. I wish that I had just rented it. I was hoping for something as much fun as Returner. Silver Hawk, however, is not it. The movie is decent, but other than a couple of moments in the movie, it just doesn't fare too well. In some fights the action is pretty good but in others it's just overly cheesy. Don't get me wrong, I like cheesy stuff sometimes, but some of this was just bad. The editing and slow motion parts in the fights were crappy. Another problem, and this is the fault of the DVD makers and not the movie itself, is that the DVD did not contain the original language track. So I had to contend with a really bad dubbing job as well. Despite all that, there is some fun to be had. Michelle Yeoh and Richie Ren looked like they were having fun, and there was some good unintentional humor. It wasn't a total waste of money, but if I could go back I wouldn't have bought it. The bottom line is, it's not the worst movie I've ever seen, but it's no where near the best either. It's merely forgettable, and that's worse than being horribly bad. If you want a good fun action movie go get Returner which stars Takeshi Kaneshiro and Anne Suzuki. Let Silver Hawk be a renter.

How bad can a film be?

[alan-lohf · 1/10 · 10 March 2013]

Have you ever found yourself watching another absolute lemon and wondering how bad a film can be? Well, this offering answers the question. I would like to be able to critically evaluate its plot but I don't have the stomach for it. To describe it as infantile would be unmerited flattery. The dialogue? I can only assume it was written by a six year old afflicted with severe learning difficulties. The acting? I haven't seen anything as bad as this since .... actually I don't think I've ever seen anything as consistently and uniformly dreadful! Seeking desperately for something positive to say, I would accept that the martial arts sequences are reasonably well choreographed - but really, your time would be far better spent hiring an old Jackie Chan or Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. I've seen some real howlers in my time but this is without doubt a contender for the title of "Worst Film of All Time". Avoid it at any cost.

All the action Batman/Catwoman/Daredevil failed to provide

[The Spectacular Spider-Man · 6/10 · 10 October 2005]

I've been looking forward to this for over a year, and it's region 2 DVD release finally came a week or so ago.

It's an Asian take on the traditional superhero movie, with Michelle Yeoh as a Batman-esquire crimefighter. Of course, there is also more emphasis on martial arts. And although it's Asian, all the actors speak English.

The Good points...

• The action scenes. Great martial arts, all sorts of different weapons and situations, all number of different fighters, and the actors all know how to fight properly. You know the problem with modern action movies is the too-fast editing? Silver Hawk gets that just right, so you can see exactly what is happening in one shot, but no more than that, and then it changes. It's perfect. There is a fight on top of a moving truck, a fight with men on bungee cords from the ceiling, and a fight with guys on rollerblades with hockey sticks. This shows Batman & Robin how it's done - but Christopher Nolan could learn a lot from it too.

• The music. Surprisingly good and lush sounding.

• Silver Hawk's background. Her history is told in flashbacks throughout the film, Highlander style. It's simple but effective, nicely creating the relationship between the two principal characters as children at martial arts school.

The Bad points.

• The actors speak English. This is not as bad as dubbing, but it's very obvious some of the actors don't speak English whatsoever.

• Comedy. Very, very bad. And even Silver Hawk is messing around and making jokes by the end. One of the characters has a very bizarre, supposedly funny martial arts stance with a weird noise he makes, and we're shown this repeatedly, much to the audience's dismay and embarrassment.

• Tone. Silver Hawk is good when it's serious, it's dramatic and exciting. Silver Hawk is no way near invincible, and she has to escape from the bad guys at one point. But then we have jokes and Silver Hawk smiling during the climactic fight. There is a silly scene where the main police officer tries to catch Silver Hawk - by dressing as a woman. And then they have a fight. Which is taken seriously. Silver Hawk is only good when it's serious, and that's only for the last thirty minutes.

• The bad guys. Michael Jai White (Spawn) and Luke Goss (Blade II) are wasted on very 2D cartoon characters. They are decent for a fight, but White doesn't even talk, and Goss plays an English Blofeld with bionic arms.

Finally, Michelle Yeoh as Silver Hawk is debatable. No question she has the charisma, as well as the physical and actorly skills to pull off the role. But she is much too old for the role, as Silver Hawk seems to be about thirty in the narrative.

So my verdict on Silver Hawk is......meh. It's entertaining enough, and the action scenes are exactly what you wanted to see but didn't in all those Batman/Catwoman/Daredevil movies. But it's just not serious enough to take seriously most of the time.

Of course it's much better than Supergirl (1984) or Catwoman (2004), it's a solid 7 out of 10 movie, which makes it the best female superhero movie so far. A dubious honor.

Chinese Superhero

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 5 August 2007]

Michelle Yeoh (Memoirs of a Geisha, Jet Li's Fearless) really gets to show her martial arts ability in this campy Chinese version of Zorro/Batman.

There is plenty of high flying action in a far out adventure as she battles the evil one (Luke Goss) who is using a scientist's invention to rule the world. She banters playfully with the police superintendent, Richie Ren, and it turns out they are lifelong friends.

The main problem with the movie, which one would watch only for Yeoh, is that is is a copy of many of the old batman TV shows, and even borrows from Batman and Robin, with martial arts limited to just knocking people out. She even saves a Panda in the beginning while scaring the kidnappers into submission with just a look. Cheesy.

Dang, this is how superheroine movies should be handled!

[ihatespike · 10/10 · 17 October 2006]

Silver Hawk is such a great movie, not overly dramatic or drudged up with too much blood or sex. In fact I don't remember seeing any of either. Michelle Yeoh is so cute and smart and funny, it's not dumb fun but it's so great to see a character who actually has lots of fun kicking butt, something which is usually seen as burdensome and depressing by most superheroes in movies and comics nowadays. Don't listen to anyone who says Michelle Yeoh is too old for this role, she doesn't look her age at all and she could've fooled me! I hate it when people think forty is over the hill, they are gravely mistaken; I think it's more of a sign of maturity and talent than the overpaid up-and-coming sluts on our silver screens today. The character is original, the costume is beautiful and not at all immodest. The music is just right and we are finally allowed the luxury of enjoying the fight scenes, totally real, beautifully choreographed and filmed so we can see it without getting a headache or feeling ripped off with up too close choppy filming. I think some of the voices are dubbed over but it doesn't bother me at all, they're all English speaking anyways. The bad guy isn't the most sinister, but he's bad enough for me, it's been so long since we've seen a villain with the classic motives of world domination and a viable method of doing so. Bad guys and superheroes don't have to be overdramatized for me to be entertained, they just have to have clear motivations and a simple sincerity. As far as any of the humor or lines coming off stale or lame-I've seen MUCH worse in movies made by people who speak English every day of the week. Silver Hawk is beautiful, strong, original, well made and modest. Ten stars and my recommendation if you like superheroine or superhero movies, martial arts and sci-fi.

Rather enjoyable...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 3 June 2022]

I sat down in 2022 to watch the 2004 Hong Kong action superhero movie "Fei Ying" (aka "Silver Hawk") for the second time. I remember watching the movie back around the time when it was just released, but only vaguely remembered the plot. Oddly enough, I had entirely forgotten that the movie had Michael Jai White and Luke Goss on the cast list as well.

The storyline in "Fei Ying", as written by Susan Chan and Jingle Ma, is a pretty straight forward one. Essentially then "Fei Ying" is a movie that encourages you to just lean back in the seat, munch on the snacks and enjoy the action on the screen. Yeah, there is very little viewer interaction requirement here, for better or worse.

I will say that "Fei Ying" is actually an enjoyable movie, a bit on the simplistic side on the storyline, but it makes for fun and good entertainment, nonetheless. And it is certainly a movie that is well-worth watching.

Needless to say that it is because of Michelle Yeoh that a movie like "Fei Ying" is so watchable, if you look past the strange hair styles incorporated at times throughout the movie. But it certainly was also a treat to have Michael Jai White in the movie, even though he had no dialogue. I am not a fan of Luke Goss, but he was actually rather nicely cast for this movie.

There is a good amount of action and martial arts in director Jingle Ma's 2004 movie "Fei Ying", which definitely spruces up the movie quite a lot.

If you haven't already seen "Fei Ying", and have the chance, do so. It is a surprisingly enjoyable movie.

My rating of "Fei Ying" lands on a six out of ten stars.

better than Yeoh's previous movie

[Iron Hand · 6 February 2004]

I wasn't expecting much after Michelle Yeoh's last flop "the Touch". "Silver Hawk" doesn't have such a great story, but the action scenes were really well done. the part where Yeoh flew over the Great Wall with her motorcycle was particularily amazing. Jingle Ma once again proves his talent as an action movie director a few years after "Tokyo Raiders" (skip "Goodbye Mister Cool" and "Para Para Sakura" unless you're really desperate). Another good reason to go see "Silver Hawk" is the absence of Ekin Cheng from the cast. That guy seems to star in too many HK movies since the mid 1990s. Worth mentioning is "Yin Xiong"'s Chen Daoming, who delivers a great performance. "Silver Hawk" is by far the most successful HK attempt at adapting a comic superhero to the big screen after "Hak Hap" and the mediocre "Hak Hap 2: City of Masks". Just for that I would give it a 7/10.