Constable Lu survives a beating from some enemies, but his recovery is short-lived; he is immediately given the task of investigating Master Li and his collection of priceless jade figurines. Lu is assisted (occasionally hindered) by good friend Monkey and they soon meet their target. However, Lu is tricked into marrying Master Li’s beautiful but stubborn daughter and then tasked with escorting the figurines across the countryside. On the way, the trio face numerous enemies and double-crosses before finding the truth behind their mission.

I love a buddy kung-fu film with two mismatched partners, a trope very well used in 80s action cinema. The top tier of the sub-genre would be reserved for ‘The Loot’, ‘Knockabout’, ‘The Secret Rivals’ and a few others, while in the section below there are hits like ‘Fearless Dragons’ and ‘The Challenger’ – ‘Mission Kiss and Kill’ belongs in the latter. It starts awkwardly, jumping from plot points in such a way that you wonder if something meaty has been cut out or this is actually a sequel. Once it settles down, though, ‘Mission Kiss and Kill’ hits its stride and becomes an entertaining flick with plenty to recommend it. Foremost among the positives is the pairing of Lee Yi-Min and Blackie Ko, two great genre stars who play off each other expertly. Lee Yi-Min made a career out of playing the cocky young fighter and he doesn’t deviate from that persona here, while Blackie Ko is happy to be the argumentative sidekick.

‘Mission Kiss and Kill’ rewards patience with even the fight choreography getting better as the story continues, a duel on empty wine jars being an obvious highlight. It does get needlessly complicated near the end with that failing of many kung-fu films becoming apparent, namely a dizzying amount of double and triple-crosses. That said, it still delivers the right amount of thrills and spills.

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Andrew Saroch

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