Royal Warriors
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Movie Reviews of Royal Warriors
Movie Review: graciously accepting flowers and punches to the face - the beauty and toughness of Michelle Yeoh
Summary: 4 Stars
When it comes to ROYAL WARRIORS (a.k.a. IN THE LINE OF DUTY) it most certainly is not about the straightforward plot or about Michael Wong whose nerve-grating character is named... Michael Wong. No, brother, ROYAL WARRIORS is all about the intense high-impact action, and so it's about Michelle Yeoh and it's a little bit about Japanese action star Hiroyuki Sanada. This film, released in Hong Kong in 1986, comes early in Michelle's acting career but, other than that she looks so much younger, you'd never know it. This ex-Miss Malaysia exudes that sort of presence. Her kung fu always could stand up to most men's kung fu. At least in cinema. Never mind that Michelle Yeoh never did have any formal training in the martial arts and that she had to pick things up here and there as she progressed from movie to movie.
The plot to this police thriller isn't what you'd call serpentine. Basically, a Hong Kong police inspector (Yeoh), a Japanese Interpol agent (Sanada), and a vapid sky marshal (Wong) foil an airplane hijacking and, in the process, end up killing the hijackers. But these hijackers have loyal associates (which is sweet and cuddly in a homicidal kind of way), and so the rest of the film finds our three protagonists being tracked and hunted by revenge-minded folks.
Some telltale signs that this movie was made in the 1980s era. There's the cheesy film score, of course. And, in her opening scene, a happy-go-lucky Michelle is wardrobed a bit like Sonny Crockett, although you forget about that once she goes into action, gracefully, cheerfully taking out a bunch of hooligans chasing some ex-gang member.
Points get taken away for that shady-looking "prototype" armored vehicle Michelle finds under some rock for the final showdown. And they never do go over how the weapons (which includes a grenade) get past Hong Kong airport security for the hijacking. They weren't just screening for nunchuks, were they?
Michael Wong's participation brings down the movie, and maybe someone fooled him into thinking this was a romantic comedy. His constant hitting on Michelle is brutal, his big go-to move seems to be this relentless showering of flowers on Michelle. And then he can't even really hold up his end in the action sequences. Michael Wong is basically playing the gender-reversed dude in distress role.
Thank goodness that the film's bonehead moves are countered by Michelle Yeoh and Hiroyuki Sanada's presence, although it's not really about Hiroyuki Sanada. The man has got some great power moves and he does have this brooding thing going on. But ROYAL WARRIORS is clearly a platform for Michelle. Michelle Yeoh, who is as game as they come, is featured in most of the fight scenes and while she doles out massive punishment with some really wicked moves, she also takes her share of pummeling. It's her doing all the crashing into walls and absorbing the kicks and punches and no wonder she's hailed as the world's top action film heroine. Her climactic fight with the last bad guy in that battered tool shed is astonishingly brutal.
The film benefits from having killers so ruthless that their actions can't help but directly impact Michelle's nature as she goes from carefree to murderously bleak. Plenty of innocent bystanders bite the bullet. The villains are pretty indiscriminate about collateral damage. The final killer is so over-the-top bent that he tortures a guy even after his death. I mean, he digs him up from his grave! That's some pretty sick stuff. To deal with someone so warped, a police inspector would probably have to give up her gun and badge...
This DVD also comes with the original movie trailer (which tends to give away the entire plot) and a new and more dynamic movie trailer.