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DVD Review: Black Mask (Blu-ray)
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Jack Bauerstein83   |  

Black MaskBlack Mask
Blu-ray (1997)
Starring Jet Li, Karen Mok, Chin Wan Lau
Lionsgate
Release Date: September 2, 2008

In an effort to cash in Jet Li‘s crossover from Hong Kong to America, several of Li’s movies were re-dubbed and re-packaged for the American population. One of these films was the high-flying Black Mask.

Based on a comic book, Black Mask tells the story of Michael, played by Jet Li. Michael is part of a secret group of super soldiers commissioned by an unknown government entity. Known as “The 701,” these men and women are virtually impervious to pain, thanks in part to an experiment, which destroyed the nerve endings in their bodies. When the project is shut down and the soldiers are decommissioned, Michael seizes his opportunity and escapes. Fast-forward to the present where Michael is living a quiet and content life as a librarian. All is well until the 701 reappear, leaving mayhem and destruction in their path. Michael has no choice but face his “friends” head on in an effort to preserve his normal life as the superhero Black Mask.

The movie offers up exactly what you expect from a superhero/action movie. There are lots of fighting, lots of scenes where the hero has to hold back some of his nature abilities to maintain his secret identity, and plenty of far-fetched plot points. While it’s not a movie for everyone, fans with a soft spot for both Jet Li and the genre will not be disappointed. The action is pretty impressive and stylized and truly showcases all that Li can do in his prime. Also, as a Chinese American, I was pleased as punched to see a lot of familiar Chinese movie stars from years gone by, acting one on one with Li.

Yes, there are some flaws in this movie. The dialogue is not that great, the acting is okay at best, and a lot of the story (due to the badly re-edited American version) is just plain silly but when you go into an action movie, you really just want to see a lot of people kicking the crap out of each other and this movie delivers that in buckets.

The movie is also visually stunning. This is the second Blu-ray DVD I have watched and I must say, the comparison between this and a normal DVD is staggering. The Blu-ray has a much crisper and clearer picture and makes this 10-year-old movie look brand new.

While the Blu-ray cut of the movie is excellent, there is not much going for this version other than that. First off, the special features are severely lacking. There are only three special features on the disc. Two features, which highlight both Wushu technique and Wushu in action, are basically just clips from the movie itself. The other feature, The Black Mask “game,” is nothing more than your typical trivia game. I would have loved to see the original cut of this film as an extra at the very least. It really would have encouraged fans of the movie to double-dip and buy this DVD.

Also, I was very surprised to find out that the original audio track was included into this version of the movie. I know a lot of people liked the idea of movies dubbed with an English track, but even fans of this practice can agree that no matter how well they dub the dialogue, the voice never truly matches the character and it always looks goofy. It may sound a bit snobbish of me to say but if you knowingly rent a foreign movie, you should expect and accept the fact that you have to read subtitles to get the gist of the movie.

Black Mask is no Iron Man by any stretch of the imagination but those with an appetite for action movies will walk away happy with the final product. The Blu-ray edition offers sparse special features but if awesome picture clarity is all that you need, then this movie is right for you.

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