Takashi Ishii's Kuro No Tenshi is a good action film but borrows too many themes and ideas from better movies such as La Femme Nikita, Leon:The Professional and Naked Killer. Reona Hazuki is perfectly cast as Ikko, the child turned cold-blooded assassin who is out to revenge the murder of her Yakuza father. Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi is 'Jil' her Japanese-American companion who helps her on her mission and steals the movie with his street dancing moves and peculiar Japanese-English mixed-up dialog. Ishii seems to borrow a lot from the Hong Kong school of gunplay action which keeps the movie interesting but the story and plot drag at times and there are many odd moments of fancy such as Ikko and Jil's dancing sequence in a hotel room which seem a bit out of place but I guess breaks the gloomy and tense atmosphere of the story. Viewers may recoil at a couple of scenes but the movie is very tame when compared to movies such as the Killer or Hard Boiled. Tenshii is an interesting entry from Ishii who has a unique flair for visuals and style but it isn't the best of the genre.
Review of Black Angel Vol. 1
