Project S (1993)

Rating: D

Dir: Stanley Tong
Star: Michelle Yeoh, Yu Rong-Guang, Emil Chau, Athena Chu
a.k.a. Supercop 2

With Yeoh producing nothing more in the West since Goldeneye, fans looking for a further fix still have to head back east, though this falls some way short of being her best film. The story is banal stuff, with Yeoh a Chinese policewoman sent to Hong Kong to help catch robbers, one of whom is her ex-boyfriend, but director Tong (Rumble in the Bronx and, bizarrely Mr.Magoo) is a great fight choreographer. Just a shame he can’t direct traffic, as far as actors go. Drama, romance, comedy: save action, there’s no genre he can’t botch, going by this one. Thankfully, there are frequent, lengthy interruptions for violence, which allow Yeoh to show off her undeniable talents as things build predictably towards the Big Bank Raid. Copious use of the fast-forward is thus highly recommended: when this is good, it’s pretty good, but when it’s bad, it’s almost unwatchable.