Black Mask (movie)

Black Mask ( ) is a 1996 Hong Kong superhero comedy film directed by Daniel Lee, and produced by Tsui Hark, who also wrote with Koan Hui, Teddy Chan, and Joe Ma. The action director was Yuen Woo-ping. The film stars Jet Li, Lau Ching-wan, Karen Mok, Françoise Yip, Patrick Lung, and Anthony Wong. The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 9 November 1996. In 1999, the film was dubbed in English and released in the United States by Artisan Entertainment.

The film is an adaptation of the 1992 manhua Black Mask by Li Chi-Tak. In 2002, it was followed by a sequel, Black Mask 2: City of Masks, starring Andy On and directed by Tsui Hark.

In homage to The Green Hornet, Black Mask wears a domino mask and chauffeur's cap in the same style as Kato (played by Bruce Lee) from the television series. The Black Mask is even compared to Kato in a news reporter scene.

Tsui Chik (or Simon in the American version) tries to lead a quiet life as a librarian. However, he is really a former test subject for a highly secretive supersoldier project and the instructor of a special commando unit dubbed "701". The 701 squad is used for many government missions, but after one of the agents kills a team of policemen in an uncontrollable rage, the government decides to abort the project and eliminate all the subjects. Tsui Chik helped the surviving 701 agents flee the extermination attempt. Having escaped, Tsui Chik went separate ways from his team and lived in Hong Kong. Later at night he discovers that the rest of the team were responsible for a violent crime spree that was beyond the capability of the local police. He sets out to get rid of them, donning a mask and hat using the superhero alias of The Black Mask. Having lost the ability to feel pain due to the surgery performed on the super-soldiers by the military, Black Mask and his former team are almost invulnerable.