Description

The female fighter has returned to the global martial arts stage. Though they may be scattered all around the globe and fight in different styles, what these women share is that they are all real martial artists, all do their own stunts and fight work and are all very much ready for prime time. 2007’s Danish effort FIGHTER brought Semra Turan to the world, Thailand introduced Jeeja Yanin in CHOCOLATE and Japan has Rina Takeda coming in HIGH KICK GIRL. And Hong Kong? Make way for Jiang Luxia. Discovered thanks to a series of Internet videos showcasing her skills and an appearance on Jackie Chan's martial arts reality show THE DISCIPLE, Jiang now makes her big-screen debut in COWEB. The directorial debut of veteran stuntman and fight choreographer Xiong Xin Xin, also known as Hung Yan Yan (you know him as Clubfoot in the ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA films), COWEB is a return to Hong Kong's traditional values—lots of fights in lots of styles, by people who really know what they're doing and don't mind being thrown through a window on to a hard concrete floor every once in a while.

Jiang stars as a young martial arts master recruited as a bodyguard who fails miserably in her first assignment and loses her employer to kidnappers. There is, of course, only one solution. She must fight her way to him, saving not only her boss but also her own honour. What she doesn't know is that the whole thing is an elaborate setup and that the kidnappers are actually filming the entire thing and broadcasting it on the Internet. She has in fact just become the unwitting star of an online reality show/illegal gambling ring. The film follows a classic tournament format with Jiang forced to fight her way through a succession of opponents, each of which use their own distinct styles in an attempt to stop the young dynamo, but she powers her way through them all with grace, power and a complete disregard for her own safety that sees her absorb more than one bone-crunching blow. This girl's the real thing, folks, expect to see a lot more of her.

—Todd Brown