Martial Arts Film of the Day: Royal Warriors ( 皇家戰士, 1986)
A flight from Japan to Hong Kong is hijacked by a criminal trying to free a prisoner who's being transported aboard. Unfortunately for them, Michelle Yip (Michelle Yeoh) is an off-duty Hong Kong police officer on the plane: with the aid of Japanese interpol agent Peter Yamamoto (Hiroyuki Sanada), and the quickly smitten sky marshall Michael (Michael Wong), the trio save the day from the terrorists. Only problem, the two criminals were part of a pact between war veterans where they swore loyalty to each other to the death. So now, the remaining ones are set on a crusade to avenge their fallen comrades… and the targets include Peter's family, who are currently residing in Hong Kong.
The second entry of the In the Line of Duty series, this film helmed by David Chung exemplifies the other big 80's Hong Kong action cinema archetype: the so called heroic bloodshed. And appropriately for this tonal direction the movie has a grittier edge. Unlike Jackie Chan's mostly comedic output during this time period, neither the glamour and opulence of the city nor the stylized exaggeration in the action sequences (which extends to the gunplay) detract from the more tragic tone and uglier displays of violence, as the extreme levels of badassery don't mean the heroes are running on invincibility mode, thus increasing the stakes.
Like any great action film worth its weight, not only are chases and fights plentiful and explosive, but strongly motivated by the characters. While Michael Wong doesn't really shine as a martial artist (since his character is mostly a happy going foil to the revenge driven Peter), Michelle Yeoh and ESPECIALLY Hiroyuki Sanada more than make up for it with intense fist fights, gun fights, fist fights that morph into gunfights and viceversa.
It's brisk, compact, has surprisingly effective emotional beats, and the action by itself has some A tier team ups worth the ticket on their own
So, yeah. This one diverges quite a bit from being JUST martial arts focused on its action sequences but I think that only speaks of how versatile their use are on cinema. Either way, the fight inside the plane already establishes the movie's strengths. It isn't even the best one in the film (not by a long shot, that honor probably goes to the bar fight scene) but in five minutes highlights the excellent choreography, the character dynamics and teamwork of the trio as well the bloodier style of the story. It's a great tone setter.
As for this being the sequel? Just you wait. I wanted to get this one of the way to give Hiroyuki Sanada a spot before we get more into the weeds of Michelle Yeoh's films. But believe me, it's gonna be a fun time
