Black Angel Vol. 1 (1998) User Reviews (15)

hit (woman) and miss

[movieman_kev · 6/10 · 3 June 2005]

As the daughter of a Yakuza boss, six year odd Ikko witnesses the slaughter of her parents. Hey dying bodyguard is able to whisk her away from the carnage and give her to Mayo, a hit-women who goes by the codename of "Black Angel" to send to Los Angelos, warning Ikko not to think of vengeance when she gets older, before dying in a fire ravaged car. Now as a young woman (Riona Hazuki of the less then stellar "Parasite Eve") she returns to Tokyo ,along with her boyfriend Zille, to seek revenge despite what she was told and takes the name of Black Angel in honor of the woman who saved her. The action is there, the story is there, but for some reason the film didn't really click for me. The pacing seems to be off a tad. It's not bad but I enjoyed Takashi Ishii's "Freeze me", and "Angel Guts" films a tad more.

My Grade: C+

DVD Extras: Trailers for "Wild Criminal", "Blood", "Score", and "Reborn from Hell"

Eye Candy: Miyuki Ono shows breasts an extra also bares fleeting boobage

"The Black Angel"

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 6 January 2014]

This is a film about 3 women who are all inextricably linked together. Taken from her mother at birth the first woman named "Ikko Amaoka" (Riona Hazuki) watches as her grandfather and bodyguards are all shot in front of her when she is only 6 years old. She is saved by the second female who is a Yakuza assassin by the name of "Mayo" (Reiko Takashima) who is also known as "the Black Angel". Knowing that there is no safe place in Japan for the little girl, Mayo arranges transportation for Ikko to Los Angeles where she is cared for until she is 20 years old. At that time Ikko returns to Japan with the intent to kill all of those responsible for the murder of her family which includes the 3rd woman, "Chiaki Amaoka" (Miyuki Ono) who also happens to be her step-sister. Now, initially this was somewhat difficult to understand because of the fast-paced violence combined with the language barrier. However, as the movie continues it eventually explains itself and all of the pieces of the puzzle come together at the very end. At any rate, those who enjoy action movies will probably like this film. Be advised though that there is quite a bit of violence along with some sex and nudity as well. Overall, I rate the film as slightly above average.

A dark tuned but exiting action thriller about revenge

[coolaziz-aziz · 6/10 · 24 November 2015]

A nice memory of my teenage life when I saw this film on TV with my friends

Black Angel is very dark thrilling

But also exiting feeling, one didn't know what will happen for poor Ikko and her quest to find her identity or who killed her family.

But there are some awkward scenes and some scenes are too violent

but however there are some nice moment too, like when Ikko dance with her friend.

Bevare of some violent scenes for sensitive viewers but for those who love action films and thrillers is a must see

If only I could find a copy of this for purchase.

[Zor-2 · 25 December 2001]

I saw this movie at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival (like another IMDB user, apparently) and fell in love with it. I had already been charmed by Riona Hazuki in Parasite Eve, and was delighted to see her in this role. The characters of Zill (Dye-blonde blonde breakdance fighting companion) and Mayo (big time femme fatale with experience, guess what her name stands for) remind me of quirky one shot characters in a detective manga, something that translates surprizingly well to the big screen.

This is an action filled story about a girl seeking revenge for her family, but in parts comes off as more of a dark comedy. Takashi toys around with many old cliches, combining them with his original ideas to create a memorable mix of drama and humor. If you can find this movie, by all means see it... and send a copy my way.

bad, sad, and slow

[petshop · 3/10 · 1 March 1999]

A schmaltzy, violent, slow moving action flick following a young girl who witnesses her family's massacre and returns 14 years later to seek vengeance. The soap opera's hamminess and relationships lend it some interest, as do a couple of camera shots.

The sound recording is pretty bad as is the acting and much of the story line. The direction drips with cliches such as the vixen shot of stockinged legs getting out of a car.

A Mixed Bag of gunplay, sex and dancing.

[jmaruyama · 4/10 · 12 August 2000]

Takashi Ishii's Kuro No Tenshi is a good action film but borrows too many themes and ideas from better movies such as La Femme Nikita, Leon:The Professional and Naked Killer. Reona Hazuki is perfectly cast as Ikko, the child turned cold-blooded assassin who is out to revenge the murder of her Yakuza father. Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi is 'Jil' her Japanese-American companion who helps her on her mission and steals the movie with his street dancing moves and peculiar Japanese-English mixed-up dialog. Ishii seems to borrow a lot from the Hong Kong school of gunplay action which keeps the movie interesting but the story and plot drag at times and there are many odd moments of fancy such as Ikko and Jil's dancing sequence in a hotel room which seem a bit out of place but I guess breaks the gloomy and tense atmosphere of the story. Viewers may recoil at a couple of scenes but the movie is very tame when compared to movies such as the Killer or Hard Boiled. Tenshii is an interesting entry from Ishii who has a unique flair for visuals and style but it isn't the best of the genre.

well, I liked it

[DanStarkey · 8/10 · 7 July 2003]

In this film Takashi Ishii adds a plot and interesting characters to his trademark violence, and the result is a watchable movie. One develops an empathy for the psychopathic and moody Ikko, and wishes her great success in her Arthurian quest to kill everyone who has crossed her. Especially since they're nowhere near as stylish and attractive as she is. Worth viewing.

Cheap blood runs slow

[Pecsi-Istvan · 4/10 · 8 August 2010]

For starters let me say that you usually got what you pay for, and purchasing this movie won't be one of your biggest expenses. The DVD itself comes in a paper sleeve. To give further rise to the customer's suspicion, the front cover claims that this movie would be Takashi Ishii's response to Quentin Tarantino, while the back states that The Black Angel served as a pattern for Quentin's Kill Bill. Just pick the one you like the most. Furthermore, take this line: 'Accompany the last assassinatrix to her final mission.' Why on Earth would our heroine be the last female to kill for money? Will she do something that makes her job less attractive to other females? Will we see an atomic blast in the end which tears our little planet, and its entire population with it, apart?

Fans of Jericho be advised, you won't see ascending mushroom clouds this time. And the Black Angel is not a carrier adviser. It also turns out that she is not killing for money, but instead, out of revenge. Luckily or not, she is the only one whose motives are absolutely clear. Having said that, we can't really see, apart from one case, any character development throughout the movie. What we can see are scenes that can be familiar from Kill Bill, namely, massacres of armed personal body guards who are practically waiting for their rounds to be killed. However, long minutes are inserted between those action-filled fragments, which can cast a bored expression on your face. For example, we can learn that, in Japan, organized crime has close ties with politics and the police - however, this is the case for almost every country in the world. Overall, the movie is able to add up nothing or very little to what you might already know about Japan. I also have to mention the art director's work: he did a really good job when he set up a television on a puddle - at least he made me smile. The free adaptation of the yellow bulldozer from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is also a notable point.

In short: mindless massacres, flat storyline, no character development, no educational content, very limited humor.

Good luck finding this film, it's worth it...

[Harvey_Birdman_attorney · 10/10 · 20 October 2002]

This is part one of Takashi Ishii's "Black Angel" double feature. The two films aren't connected by characters, just a similar general plot focused on female killers. Both films have a low-budget feel to them, and evoke moods in much the same way that Wong Kar-Wai's "Chungking Express" films do.

Ishii really does a lot with this film even though it is considerably based on action movie cliches. Fortunately he manages to breathe some life into it with some excellent camera work (including a particularly well-filmed continuous shot), and the great performances of Riona Hazuki and Reiko Takashima (as the two main female protagonists).

One particular scene of note: Early in the film Ishii breaks up the heavy crime drama with a strangely placed song and dance number that is composed of one long 3 minute shot, from one angle. Very strange. It actually made me think of François Truffaut's "Shoot the Pianot Player." Early in that film a ridiculous dance number in the bar breaks up the tension in much the same way.

I don't wanna live anymore...

[spankyromano · 10/10 · 28 January 2002]

Black Angel is a film that represents the best of what Japanese contemporary cinema can be. It is that rare thing - an action movie that contains depth, character and intellect. The characters are all fully rounded, fleshed out and fallible. They are shades of grey, rather than black or white, and this ambivalence only lends to their realism. They even have to take time to recover after they receive a beating! It is a testament to Takashi that he can produce such empathy for these characters. His direction is polished and at times superb. One scene employs a single 8 minute take with no edits to emphasize the effect of relativity that the protagonist must be encountering on her fruitless attempts to escape and it is inspired. Takashi's trademark use of wide angle lenses is also at an apex in this movie, serving to enhance the effect of bodily movements while at the same time trapping the characters between the foreground and background, thereby outlining their plight (their lack of freedom is rooted in their desire to fulfil their destiny yet at the same time despising what they do). The violence is balletic and certainly tips it's hat to the Hong Kong heroic bloodshed movies of John Woo, et al but Takashi manages to make the set pieces his own by incorporating these formalistic camera techniques into realistic circumstances to draw the viewer into the world he has created. This is similar to Scorcese's "Raging Bull" where extremely formalistic techniques create a very realistic impression on the audience. The story deals with some familiar themes from Japanese cinema (revenge, rape, male-female power relations, etc...) and Takashi's use of motifs helps to relate the characters to one another and outline their connections. Even the title relates to the dichotomy facing our protagonist. The internal conflict of Ikko is mirrored by the external conflicts upon which she embarks. Black Angel is well conceived, well shot and well acted and deserves to be ranked among contemporary Japanese cinema's finest.

Black Angel

[jesko-malik · 8/10 · 31 January 2007]

Indeed a nice vengeance flick, the director made it possible to make it interesting, stylish and very cold. The story is quite simple and not very fresh, but the style and strong violence (strong in my eyes cause it's against a woman) plus good camera work and very cold pictures make it a bit more special than a lot of the other Japanese movies. It reminds me of the earlier movie GONIN, witch is at any rate commendable if you liked the BLACK ANGEL and of course takeshi kitano). I've now seen a few of his films (ishii) and have to say that he's a good director in my eyes, but don't match to make every film interesting. I like his cold depressing style, but he's not a very good story teller. If you like the vengeance theme and the described style than you've got to check it out.

Loved it, Wish I could find it.

[hiro75 · 10/10 · 25 January 2000]

I saw this movie at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival and loved it. Unfortunately, that was the last time it was ever available for me to see it. I wish a distributor would put it out on video or DVD in America. Unlike, the previous person that reviewed the film, I thought the action was well-paced and the cinematography was pretty good. Very cool action movie.

Hong Kong? Phooey! Japan is where it's at!

[Infofreak · 20 November 2003]

I don't know why so many people love flashy but empty Hong Kong action movies when there are much darker, more violent and interesting crime and horror movies over in Japan! Quentin Tarantino's brilliant 'Kill Bill' is inspired by much of this stuff, specifically Kinji Fukasaku's amazing 'Battle Royale' and Takashi Miike's mind-blowing 'Ichi The Killer', so I'm hoping that it signals the beginning of a lot more attention from Western audiences on the seemingly endless invention of the more extreme end of the Japanese film industry. The work of Takashi Ishii ('Evil Dead Trap' - as writer only - 'Gonin', 'Freezer') hasn't received as much attention as the more flamboyant and controversial Miike, but in his own way he's just as exciting. And while watching 'The Black Angel' I couldn't help but wonder if it was a favourite of Tarantino's. Babelicious Riona Hazuki plays Ikko who returns from the US to avenge her parents who were killed in front of her when she was a small girl. Mayo, a mysterious and beautiful assassin called The Black Angel (Reiko Takashima) helped her escape from Japan as a child, so now as an adult she borrows that name. Ikko is intent on killing yakuza boss Nogi, the man responsible for the death of her mother and father, only she doesn't realize that Mayo is now Nogi's (reluctant) mistress and that there meeting again is inevitable. 'The Black Angel' is an extremely cool movie. Ishii is a very inventive and original director who constantly surprises the viewer, moving from an unexpected light hearted dance number to a confronting torture sequence. His characters aren't cliched and predictable and you are always on your toes. I highly recommend this movie and his other yakuza thriller 'Gonin', another film which takes a familiar theme and subverts it in fascinating ways. Forget old hat John Woo and Jackie Chan, try the Takashis, Miike and Ishii!

Dark, twisted and really entertaining.

[Beard_Of_Serpico · 8/10 · 4 November 2020]

Black Angel is a 90's Japanese action thriller about a girl who gets revenge on the Yakuza. That's the gist of it but the movie is also really stylishly filmed and has a lot of emotional depth too. It's directed by Takashi Ishii who also made the classic Yakuza movie "Gonin" as well as it's sequel and if you've seen one of his movies then you'll know what to expect - Violence, gun fights and buckets of blood, a dark and brooding atmosphere, offbeat characters and harsh violence towards female characters who don't really deserve it. It isn't exactly a laugh a minute but i love this kind of movie.

Definitely not for everyone, i can see some people with more "woke" sensibilities disliking it (and his other movies!) but if you like dark and violent Yakuza movies from the 80's and 90's which don't pull their punches then it's a must see. The sequel is very good too but is unrelated to this movie.

Epic first movie that didn't get a trilogy

[euroasiangenetic · 10/10 · 2 December 2018]

One of my favorite movies from the 90s based on a manga with the same name, the black angel is mix of noir action adventure and misfortune.

As a 6 year old girl, Ikko lives a good life with her yakuza family. But one day her family get assassinated but she is rescued by a heroine called black angel who takes her to America. 20 years later Ikko takes the role of the new Black Angel and return to Japan to seek answers why her family was killed in front of her.

The movie is for all time a classic, it's a gangster movie which was popular to make in Japan in the 90s but it's also philosophy and show a corrupt society when it's not working. I give this movie a 10/10 one of my favorite movies.