Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Tsui Chik/Simon, a quiet librarian, is actually an ex-Special Forces super soldier. He is friends with Inspector Shek Wai-ho/Rock, a detective with Hong Kong Police, with whom Tsui Chik frequently shares conversation over chess. Tsui Chik learns his old commando unit, called 701, is still active, murdering gangsters and police in a grasp for power. Tsui Chik dons a black domino mask and bowler hat like Bruce Lee's Kato from The Green Hornet, becoming a masked vigilante to stop his old unit, inadvertently coming into conflict Shek Wai-ho/Rock and the police.Black Mask isn't something you watch for the story, there's a minimum of it. There's just enough to let you know who the good guys and the bad guys are. There's also a tiny amount of romantic subplot thrown with a co-worker and a former squad member of Tsui Chik's introduced to give him a more personal reason to fight the good fight. Jet Li is at his best, his jaw-dropping on screen fights are like no one else, including the legendary Bruce Lee and contemporary peer Jackie Chan.

Very good martial arts film and Jet Li is the best since the master himself Bruce Lee .Li is excellent as the low key librarian/cop who saves all time and time again . He has a presence and a look that is riveting and believable as the kung fu king that you don't mess with .Francoise Yip is simply beautiful in that mixed race original way that is unique because of her mixed heritage , she has an innocence and an allure all at the same time that I found unforgettable .The villain , the man with the sunglasses and long hair was very good as well but I can't find his name in the credits , can some one help me out with that ? Thanks ! Enjoy Hak hap or Black Mask , in any language its good entertainment !

This film looks like a mix between both Batman, X-MEN and "The Matrix" all combined and I'm proud to say that if you like either film series and/or are a fan of that genre, then you'll probably dig this one!Jet Li plays a super human soldier created by the HK government and escapes after an opening gun battle and explosive opening ( which in the U.S. version has this and every other fight scene be accompanied by rap music! ). He then becomes a librarian and lives a quiet life with a police officer friend ( played by the under-rated Ching Wan Lau ). But when mysterious happenings occur, our main protagonist becomes a super-hero by night and ends up fighting a team of other super-human experiments, who have formed a clan that is devoted to black-mailing the HK government into giving them a cure by stealing the main information files. It's non-stop and an entertaining adrenaline rush! See now, but don't watch if you get way too annoyed by dubbing.

There are so many things that make this flick worth watching:(1)an exciting script,with large doses of humor and extravagant irony,and also some violence (Tsui Hark is one of the co-authors of this script);(2)the excellent directing and the visual beauty;the photography is exquisite and unusually beautiful;the movie is thrilling and suspenseful,and the pace is very ably kept;the attack of the 701 Squad assassins on the hospital where the inspector "Rock" was guarding the last Hong Kong drug boss ("King Kau") is especially amazing;a quite unconventional treatment of some standard plot;(3)a first-class cast (Jet Li,Ching Wan Lau,Françoise Yip,Karen Mok,Kong Lung);Jet Li ,who has the opportunity to kick some jaws and show his agility and test his Agonistical aptitudes,does indeed give a touch of charming humanity and candor and honesty to many of his significant roles,and this is part of what makes them so endearing (a few days ago,I was telling somebody that I like every movie that Jet Li is in;Hak hap (1996) is no exception);(4)it has Tsui Hark as producer.The visual tastiness of this spectacular and glorious movie is delightful.Hak hap (1996) has a pleasing comic-strips quality,and fun in plenty.The film is fanciful,tonic,intelligent and masterfully done.It is smart stuff.No combat is aimless.The government patronizes a medical experiment that turns soldiers into killing machines:the 701 Squad.The Neurotomy makes them loose their human feelings,by destroying their nervous centers;so takes birth an elite Squad,"elite assassins",designed not to feel the pain and die fighting,headed by an abhorrent,cynical,abominable, smirking villain.A man of this 701 Squad,the Teacher, proves to be not as inhuman as his pals;he does not agree with a life of killings,and leaves the military,refusing to follow the Squad on such paths.Although he lost his feelings by that Neurotomy,he tries to get as human as possible and have a new-life,as a cute,peaceful and tolerant librarian,Tsui;it matches his pacifist convictions.He is considered a helpless man by those who meet him in this new existence of his;they couldn't think that Tsui has the abilities of a killing machine.In his new,non-violent life, he is friends with an inspector,"Rock",that protects him,as Tsui hides his powers and refuses to resort to violence.The Hong Kong's drug lords get killed one after another.The police gets involved;Tsui's pugnacious friend,"Rock",fights the band of killers (i.e.,the 701 Squad,who tries to take over the Asian drug market).Tsui teams up with Tracy,a girl who works at the library and which he rescues from the Squad murderers' hands.The show is a super-hero story with a rather SF premise (the Neurotomy).The Teacher meets a former comrade of his:the comely but cold-hearted Françoise Yip.While each scene is well-crafted,some are exquisitely done.Daniel Lee made a few flicks,one with Sammo Hung Kam-Bo,but Jet Li and Françoise Yip are the best artists he worked with.