Thy Davideth No. It's not a "so bad it's good" movie. Yes, this movie has hot chicks with tight butts and pretty faces. Yes, this movie has some good martial arts and gun fighting action. Yes, it has bloody violence that can cause a sexual provocation. Unfortunately, this has to be one of the most exasperating movies I have ever seen. I couldn't finish it. The acting was so horrible, I wished everyone in this movie died. And it's not the kind of acting that is bad in a funny way, either. It is like crying children combined with a chalkboard being scratched perpetually. The story had some good ideas like having a secret place that kidnaps 13 years old girls and training them to be killers and **** but the execution results in stupid friendship, lousy dramatization and horrible characterization. On a positive note, you get to see Suzy Q do the splits and you get to see her PERFECT BUTT! And the action...... you know what? Kiss my fat ***! This movie sucks. In conclusion: I wouldn't recommend this movie. That is all.

kluseba This movie came as a huge surprise to me. I actually watched this movie because there was nothing else on television and expected a brutal and modern martial arts movie with a couple of beautiful women that would be rather superficial and more or less entertaining.In fact, there is much more in this feature than raw fights and sex scenes. This movie is almost built up as a touching documentary with some dramatic moments. It tells the story of the so-called China Dolls, young and beautiful killer women of Chinese descent. The movie shows how a pitiless organization convinces poor young girls to come to an isolated island if they don't simply kidnap them. On this island, everybody is brutally shot if one tries to escape and return back home. The movie shows in very raw pictures how the girls become young women and have to kill their yearlong mates in brutal exercises just to survive. The final cage fights are not only extremely bloody but also very touching and make you think a lot about the nature of the human soul. You almost have tears in your eyes when you see how the very few winners of these yearlong abuses, fights and tortures are than poisoned and raped by brutal white men without any emotions. I must warn you that this movie is really tough stuff and should not be watched by younger audiences or soft-heartened people. It's rather difficult to watch for Western audiences and only Asian or those who are used to the more direct Asian cinema might truly appreciate this.The movie portrays more and more the fate of one of these China Dolls and shows her everyday life as a killer once she got out of that terrible island of tortures. The young woman is called Charlene and despite her cruel past, she has kept her soul intact. She developed and beautiful and desperate friendship to Katherine while the last of three surviving female killers called Jing has become one of her worst enemies. Charlene wants to get out of business and her pitiless female boss gives her one last job to do that turns out to be a bloody disaster and deadly trap. Charlene must protect her best friend Katherine, save the life of her mother whom she hasn't seen for many years and falls for a young CIA agent who should normally imprison her but risks his job and his life in order to be with her. On the other side, the pitiless Jing, the evil boss called Madame M and a Yakuza boss that wants to avenge his brother are ready to get her back in trouble.Many critics claim that the movie is very stylish but that the fighting scenes are not always stunning. This movie simply isn't about style and martial arts. These are only two minor elements of the movie. It's not about beautiful woman or exotic locations either. This movie is a raw drama about staying human in inhuman conditions. The film touches profound topics such as family, friendship and love on one side but abuse, hatred and vengeance on the other one and portrays how difficult all these things are to be kept in the balance. With its raw scenes, the somewhat limited story and the only average fighting scenes, the movie might attract a larger audience but reserves enough space to focus on the essential content that turns out to be surprisingly dramatic and philosophical. At the beginning of the movie and by reading popular critics, you won't see this side of the film coming and that's what it makes so outstanding in its simplicity. The movie happens to be extraordinary by not being spectacular. It'an authentic, direct and truly emotional tale about the dark and light sides of life. This movie has loads of elements from different genres to discover and I would certainly watch it again. Don't get fooled by the critics and give this flick a chance no matter if you look for a documentary, a drama, a martial arts movie, a romance or a thriller. This movie is quite diversified and this might be the reason why many people have some issues with it as they might only adore a couple of elements and think these are not always brilliantly executed. If you like all these genres and the movie as a whole, you will though experience an amazing movie you didn't see coming.

movieman_kev Madame M (Almen Wong) lures a couple dozen prepubescent girls to a remote island, where she trains them to be highly skilled assassins, in the later training stages forcing them to kill each other until one survives, but she changes her mind and lets 3 girls live to go on missions for her as highly paid killers, Charlen, Katt, and Jill. CIA agent recognizes Charlen (Maggie Q( as a girl he's been looking to find for years and tries to help her get back with her parents. The flimsy plot is really just an excuse for pretty well choreographed fight scenes and titillation. However, the first act after the credits of the kidnapped girls training and living in a make-shift prison hampers the film greatly before it barely gets off the ground. Two other downfalls are that it has the most silly, nonsensical rape scene that I've ever seen, an ending that's too damn abrupt, and more importantly a shower scene wherein NO ONE gets naked, not even a token extra or two. That alone should be a cardinal sin in the annals of B-movie action films. I didn't particularly care for this one.Eye Candy: Maggie Q, and Marit Thoresen get topless My Grade: D Where I saw it: Starz on Demand (available until September 15th, 2005)

Rosettes Possible spoiler, anyhow.Sort of Charlie's Angels meets ArchAngel of Airwolf and Sharkey's Machine with shades of La Femme Nikita, Point of No Return (same and different scenes), The Killer, Shiri, Rollerball (1975), and Max Headroom.It's a fun movie and worth a look or two even though at times, things drag a little with lines without acting effort, lack of continuity between the trainers and the trainees, and questionable personalty development or lack of indoctrination of the trainees.Still, the way a lot of scenes were set up and filmed, it is apparent that this is not a cheap movie for great effort was made in getting the message across in the filmography. As far as whether or not it stole from the movies mentioned above (and maybe others for scenes I haven't connected yet), I would say no. Edison said that there were only so many original stories; everything else was a retelling.It's enjoyable provided one doesn't have an exact ruler to judge movies by and therefore, determine their enjoyment of it. If that is the case, then there are noticeable flaws that such a critic would rip the movie apart over.As things go for me, this movie rates 8.9/10. Not a 9 on the first viewing, but it's the kind of movie that wears on the thoughts, and eventually I'll probably go out and buy my own copy for it is like Killing Time (1998). Invulnerable Femme Fatales that are impossibilities, but it is a nice fantasy to get lost in for about 90 minutes.