ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Xbspiro 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.

Dan Starkey 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.

Harvey_Birdman_attorney 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.

jmaruyama 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.