After Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh, Moon Lee and Sibelle Hu is going to rock Malaysia.
Angel's Project is a 1993 Hong Kong action movie starring Moon Lee and Sibelle Hu, one of the many Girls with Guns movies prominent in 90s Hong Kong cinema spawned by the Iron Angels movies. Out of all the "Angel" action movies, this one however have less focus on action, and more on slapstick and comedy.
When a Hong Kong policeman-turned-informant, who holds an important diskette containing information that can topple a drug-dealing syndicate, flees to Malaysia, two policewomen, Inspector Hu and Inspector Siu-Fung (Sibelle Hu and Moon Lee) had to track him down. But when they find their suspect, a botched arrest attempt leaves Inspector Hu and their wanted man, Chan-Wai, stranded in the middle of Malaysia, without backup, and the diskette is nowhere in sight. What follows is a series of misadventures as Inspector Hu and Chan-Wai had to work together - reluctantly - to get back to the authorities while being pursued by killers at every turn.
This film contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Inspector Siu-Fung and Inspector Hu, respectively portrayed by Moon Lee and Sibelle Hu.
- Battle Couple: A non-romantic example between Inspector Hu and Chan-Wai, when they have to fight off Ma’s henchmen. Inspector Hu did a better job fighting than Chan-Wai, her beating the snot out of mooks effortlessly while Chan-Wai ends up getting bruises and beatdowns throughout the brawl.
- Chained Heat: After Chan-Wai tries making a run and getting re-captured by Inspector Hu, to prevent him from another attempted escape, she decides to handcuff him on her. Unfortunately both of them end up getting lost in the middle of the rural Malaysian countryside, far from any assistance, where they have to spend a whole night handcuffed together.
- Decoy Protagonist: Right in the Action Prologue, audiences are introduced to Inspector Tsui, who debuts fighting a tall, burly, Caucasian thug at least a head taller than him, who puts up a massive fight that lasts for nearly 10 minutes until Tsui finally arrests his opponent. But after that scene Tsui simply disappears from the picture, and the movie shifts focus on Inspector Siu-Fung and Inspector Hu, the real protagonists.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: Averted, despite most of the movie being set in Malaysia, the film doesn’t show any shots of the Kuala Lumpur Tower, which is two years old when the movie came out. (The Petronas towers on the other hand are built in 1993, the exact same year as this movie, it’s possible that being a relatively new structure the filming crew cannot obtain a license to include any scenes around the towers). Nevertheless, its played straight with the Kuala Lumpur railway station (existed since 1886), with an action scene taking place on top of its highest tower.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: After Chan-Wai’s arrest, Inspector Siu-Fung and Inspector Hu interrogates Chan-Wai in their hotel room… by feasting on beef steak while Chan-Wai, who is hungry and tied up on two chairs, watches, and then offers him a bite if he’s willing to spill the information about the missing diskette.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: In the penultimate vehicle chase after the final shootout, Inspector Hu pursues Ma who tried to flee from the police, and she ends up making him crash into an empty, derelict house. For some reason, Ma’s getaway vehicle promptly explodes into a massive fireball with him still in it, despite merely crashing into a wall. Of an empty house.
- Eyedscreen: Occurs in a stare-down between Chan-Wai and his former gang superior, Ma, after Ma had Susanna killed for her Heel–Face Turn.
- Fakin' MacGuffin: Chan-Wai, during the train station exchange between the diskette containing evidence of Ma’s involvement with drug dealers for Susanna’s life, actually swapped the diskettes, keeping the real one to be submitted to the police while handing an identical diskette containing Pac-Man to Ma.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: Siu-Fung, who had a rather low tolerance towards spicy food, accidentally orders assam laksa – a Malaysian dish known to be notoriously spicy – and ends up having a fire-breathing lunch that gets her eyes watery.
- Flag Drop: The Malaysian flag is very prominently displayed in every indoor scene when Inspector Hu and Siu-Fung asks questions to the local police commissioner.
- Foreign Queasine: Inspector Hu had to spend her second night in Malaysia with Chan-Wai in a rural village nearby a secluded jungle, where Chan-Wai’s contact, a local family, offers her dinner. In the form of a deep-fried monitor lizard. But after some convincing from Chan-Wai, Inspector Hu eventually did take a bite, and actually enjoys it.
- Hiding in a Hijab: Susanna, the Living MacGuffin character the Hong Kong police has been pursuing, spends much of her time hiding in Malaysia in a hijab. Which isn’t unusual – women wearing hijabs are a common sight in Malaysia.
- Janitor Impersonation Infiltration: Hotel Maid Impersonation. Inspector Hu managed to break into Siu-Fung’s hotel room, which she is restricted from leaving due to being another suspect, and guarded by two policemen, by posing as a hotel cleaner. She is notably wearing a traditional kebaya, a native Malaysian dress, for authenticity.
- Lighter and Softer: Of the various "Angel" action movies starring Moon Lee and Sibelle Hu released in the early 90s. This one contains plenty of slapstick comedy, jokes, really minimal violence which isn’t as graphic as other entries, only a handful of fight scenes, and isn’t as intense as most of the movies of its type. Its almost a borderline Affectionate Parody.
- Men of Sherwood: The combined forces of the Hong Kong and Malaysian police, led by Inspector Siu-Fung, who arrives to battle Ma and the drug dealers. They manage to take down scores and scores of enemies while sustaining minimal casualties, allowing Inspector Hu to take on Ma herself without being harassed by mooks.
- Railing Kill: The fate of Ko, Susanna’s contact, who gets flung off a tall railing by Ma.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Between Inspector Hu and Chan-Wai, the moment both of them are trapped in the Malaysian countryside without backup.
- Tickle Torture: Part of the "torture" Siu-Fung and Inspector Hu inflicts on Chan-Wai while interrogating him (who is clad only in his boxers), on the sole of his foot. It didn’t work.
- Unconventional Vehicle Chase: Halfway through the movie, Chan-Wai tries to make a run from Inspector Siu-Fung and Siu-Fong, by hijacking a trishaw. Both women get on their vehicle, leading to a car-vs-trishaw chase scene.
