Naked Weapon
Encyclopedia
Naked Weapon is a 2002
Hong Kong
action
-thriller film directed by action choreographer
Tony Ching
and starring Maggie Q
uigley, Anya Wu and Daniel Wu
. Written by prolific film producer
Wong Jing
, Naked Weapon is similar in theme though unrelated to his earlier work Naked Killer
(1992
). The film revolves around three female assassin
s who get close to their targets, primarily through seduction, before they kill them.
Having grossed HK$
72,828 in the first week of release in Hong Kong, the film quickly dropped out of the top ten best-selling films in the subsequent week.
), a rookie, watch through surveillance as a sexy female assassin named Fiona Birch (Marit Thoresen) enters the man's heavily guarded apartment suite and, after having sex with him, kills him by breaking his spine with her bare hands. As she makes her escape in her white Porsche 911 GT3
, her car is hit by a rocket. As the officers rush over to extricate her from the wreckage, a woman in a limousine shoots her to death.
The woman in the limousine is revealed to be Madam M (Almen Wong), the leader of a mysterious assassin organization, to which the killed assassin belonged. After the incident, young girls across the globe start disappearing one after another. The only relationship among them is that they are all trained in martial arts or sports. As correctly theorized by Jack, these girls have been abducted by Madam M and transported to an island to be trained to become professional assassins. After six years of gruesome training, only Charlene Ching (Maggie Q
), Katt (Anya Wu) and Jing (Jewel Lee) survive and "graduate". The last test in order for them to graduate was a fight for survival/to the death test. Katt and Charlene, being friends, could not kill each other, and so each is accepted as the third survivor. To celebrate Madame M gives them all different wine which has drugs in it. As the drugs take effect Madame M calls her guards who brutally rape the girls, thus (in Madame M's words) making them ready for what was to come.
The three girls are then sent on several missions around the world. During one of her missions in Hong Kong, Charlene coincidentally runs into her long-lost mother, Faye Ching (Cheng Pei-pei
). Jack, who has been following Madam M's case for the last six years, tracks Charlene down, but Charlene manages to knock him out and escape. Believing that Charlene would return to seek her mother, Jack waits outside Faye's house. However, Jing shows up first and stabs Faye. Jack tries to fend her off but was no match for her. Charlene shows up shortly and kills Jing after a fierce fight. The two then escort the wounded Faye to hospital.
In order to regain their freedom, Charlene and Katt accept a final mission from Madam M. A yakuza
boss, Ryuichi (Andrew Lin), has contracted Madam M to eliminate a traitor in his gang. The mission turns out to be Ryuichi's trap to avenge his partner, who was assassinated previously by one of Madam M's girls (Charlene). Ryuichi kills Madam M and captures Katt, while Charlene escapes. When Charlene returns the next day to rescue Katt, she watches helplessly through a bullet-proof glass as Katt, after being tortured, is killed by Ryuichi, with a sword. The enraged Charlene battles Ryuichi and through a intense fight, finally manages to kill him.
After everything is over, Jack and Charlene's mother, Faye, are at a Chinese temple offering prayers. Faye jokingly says that these things (the gods that she has been praying to) must have been all nonsense in Jack's point of view. But Jack tells her that although he is an atheist he feels peace every time he is in the temple. Faye commends his behavior and says that he should visit the temple more often. Meanwhile, we see Charlene in a Chinese temple
praying for Katt's soul to rest in peace and she tells the deity that she wishes to be with the one she truly loves, Jack himself. Jack claims at the end of the movie that there are times when he is sure that Charlene is beside him; the last scene of the movie is Charlene watching Jack rush through the crowd looking for her.
Hong Kong films of 2002
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 2002:.-2002:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 2002 at...
Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...
action
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Hollywood, with Chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural...
-thriller film directed by action choreographer
Stage combat
Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions. The term is also used informally to describe fight choreography for other...
Tony Ching
Ching Siu-tung
Ching Siu-tung , also known as Tony Ching, is a Hong Kong action choreographer, actor, film director and producer, who has directed over 20 films, including the critically acclaimed supernatural fantasy A Chinese Ghost Story .-Career:...
and starring Maggie Q
Maggie Q
Margaret Denise Quigley , professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American-born actress and former fashion model. She currently stars as the titular character on the action-thriller TV series Nikita.-Early life:...
uigley, Anya Wu and Daniel Wu
Daniel Wu
Daniel Yin-Cho Wu is a Hong Kong actor, director and producer. Since his film debut in 1998, he has been featured in over 40 films. Wu has been called "the young Andy Lau," and is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese-language film industry.-Early life:Wu was born in...
. Written by prolific film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Wong Jing
Wong Jing
Wong Jing is a Hong Kong film director, producer, actor, presenter, and screenwriter. A prolific filmmaker possessed of strong instincts for crowd-pleasing and publicity, he is often cited as the most consistently successful filmmaker , in commercial terms, in the Hong Kong cinema of the last...
, Naked Weapon is similar in theme though unrelated to his earlier work Naked Killer
Naked Killer
Naked Killer is a 1992 Hong Kong film written and produced by Wong Jing, and directed by Clarence Fok Yiu-leung. The film stars Chingmy Yau, Simon Yam and Carrie Ng.The film is regarded as a cult classic. -Plot:...
(1992
Hong Kong films of 1992
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 1992:.-1992:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 1992 at...
). The film revolves around three female assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
s who get close to their targets, primarily through seduction, before they kill them.
Having grossed HK$
Hong Kong dollar
The Hong Kong dollar is the currency of the jurisdiction. It is the eighth most traded currency in the world. In English, it is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively HK$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
72,828 in the first week of release in Hong Kong, the film quickly dropped out of the top ten best-selling films in the subsequent week.
Plot
The movie opens with the assassination of a man of unknown identity. A team of three CIA officers, including Jack Chen (played by Daniel WuDaniel Wu
Daniel Yin-Cho Wu is a Hong Kong actor, director and producer. Since his film debut in 1998, he has been featured in over 40 films. Wu has been called "the young Andy Lau," and is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese-language film industry.-Early life:Wu was born in...
), a rookie, watch through surveillance as a sexy female assassin named Fiona Birch (Marit Thoresen) enters the man's heavily guarded apartment suite and, after having sex with him, kills him by breaking his spine with her bare hands. As she makes her escape in her white Porsche 911 GT3
Porsche 911 GT3
The Porsche 911 GT3 is a higher performance version of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is the latest in a line of high performance models, beginning with the 1973 911 RS...
, her car is hit by a rocket. As the officers rush over to extricate her from the wreckage, a woman in a limousine shoots her to death.
The woman in the limousine is revealed to be Madam M (Almen Wong), the leader of a mysterious assassin organization, to which the killed assassin belonged. After the incident, young girls across the globe start disappearing one after another. The only relationship among them is that they are all trained in martial arts or sports. As correctly theorized by Jack, these girls have been abducted by Madam M and transported to an island to be trained to become professional assassins. After six years of gruesome training, only Charlene Ching (Maggie Q
Maggie Q
Margaret Denise Quigley , professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American-born actress and former fashion model. She currently stars as the titular character on the action-thriller TV series Nikita.-Early life:...
), Katt (Anya Wu) and Jing (Jewel Lee) survive and "graduate". The last test in order for them to graduate was a fight for survival/to the death test. Katt and Charlene, being friends, could not kill each other, and so each is accepted as the third survivor. To celebrate Madame M gives them all different wine which has drugs in it. As the drugs take effect Madame M calls her guards who brutally rape the girls, thus (in Madame M's words) making them ready for what was to come.
The three girls are then sent on several missions around the world. During one of her missions in Hong Kong, Charlene coincidentally runs into her long-lost mother, Faye Ching (Cheng Pei-pei
Cheng Pei-pei
Cheng Pei-pei is an actress best known for her performance in the seminal 1966 King Hu wuxia film Come Drink with Me. She continued to play expert swordswomen in a number of films throughout the 1960s...
). Jack, who has been following Madam M's case for the last six years, tracks Charlene down, but Charlene manages to knock him out and escape. Believing that Charlene would return to seek her mother, Jack waits outside Faye's house. However, Jing shows up first and stabs Faye. Jack tries to fend her off but was no match for her. Charlene shows up shortly and kills Jing after a fierce fight. The two then escort the wounded Faye to hospital.
In order to regain their freedom, Charlene and Katt accept a final mission from Madam M. A yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
boss, Ryuichi (Andrew Lin), has contracted Madam M to eliminate a traitor in his gang. The mission turns out to be Ryuichi's trap to avenge his partner, who was assassinated previously by one of Madam M's girls (Charlene). Ryuichi kills Madam M and captures Katt, while Charlene escapes. When Charlene returns the next day to rescue Katt, she watches helplessly through a bullet-proof glass as Katt, after being tortured, is killed by Ryuichi, with a sword. The enraged Charlene battles Ryuichi and through a intense fight, finally manages to kill him.
After everything is over, Jack and Charlene's mother, Faye, are at a Chinese temple offering prayers. Faye jokingly says that these things (the gods that she has been praying to) must have been all nonsense in Jack's point of view. But Jack tells her that although he is an atheist he feels peace every time he is in the temple. Faye commends his behavior and says that he should visit the temple more often. Meanwhile, we see Charlene in a Chinese temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
praying for Katt's soul to rest in peace and she tells the deity that she wishes to be with the one she truly loves, Jack himself. Jack claims at the end of the movie that there are times when he is sure that Charlene is beside him; the last scene of the movie is Charlene watching Jack rush through the crowd looking for her.
Cast
- Almen Wong as Madam M, leader of a mysterious international assassin organization
- Maggie QMaggie QMargaret Denise Quigley , professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American-born actress and former fashion model. She currently stars as the titular character on the action-thriller TV series Nikita.-Early life:...
as Charlene Ching, kidnapped by Madam M and trained to be a professional assassin, Katt's best friend - Anya Wu as Katt, kidnapped by Madam M since young and trained to be a professional assassin, Charlene's best friend
- Jewel Lee as Jing, kidnapped by Madam M since young and trained to be a professional assassin
- Daniel WuDaniel WuDaniel Yin-Cho Wu is a Hong Kong actor, director and producer. Since his film debut in 1998, he has been featured in over 40 films. Wu has been called "the young Andy Lau," and is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese-language film industry.-Early life:Wu was born in...
as Jack Chen, CIA officer on the trail of Madam M and her assassins - Cheng Pei-peiCheng Pei-peiCheng Pei-pei is an actress best known for her performance in the seminal 1966 King Hu wuxia film Come Drink with Me. She continued to play expert swordswomen in a number of films throughout the 1960s...
as Faye Ching, Charlene's long-lost mother - Andrew Lin as Ryuichi, a Yakuza boss