Review: The cover of Body Weapon is legendary. Stand in any HMV, and watch the little crowd of punters picking over the Martial Arts DVDs. Watch them scanning the front of the cases, all showing unimaginative designs featuring stills from one of the stars earlier movies. Then watch as each one stops for a moment to admire Angie Cheung in a little peephole leather catsuite. Nobody can resist a peek at this DVD cover. It simply draws the male eye. Nobody seems to buy Body Weapon, because despite that cover, it gives off the aura of a poor film.

Body Weapon seems to take the Wong Jing formula, push it in the wrong direction, and just beyond the realms of good taste. The idea that a woman raped and angry with the world should vow to master the art of seduction in order to take revenge is intriguing, especially if she dresses in the leather. For some reason best known to Wong Jing and Director Aman Chan, little is done with this ‘black widow’ premise, which turns into an uneasy fusion of erotic thriller, rape fantasy and martial arts flick. It at least manages to be unusual, it’s not often you see a ginger homosexual teaching a woman in a leopard-skin bra to kick the G-spot out of a watermelon.

The acting is often poor, the plot predictable, and the attempt to write a logical love-triangle story is laughably naïve. The hammy melodrama is straight out of a cheap soap opera, and the traumatic rape scenes are voyeuristically overlong. It would sound like a better movie if I mentioned that there is a gimp, a ‘Snake in the Eagles Shadow’ style training session, and the usual fight action. The problem is, this makes Body Weapon sound fun. There is too much rape on display for that, as well as some very strange attitudes towards women, homosexuality and film-making.

The fights are quite well staged, and intense in their simplicity. No weapons, no wires, just fast, frantic fist fights. There are three major punch-ups in the film, and they just about keep the finger away from the STOP button.