Review of Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon

Sonny is in James Bond mode again in this solid but somehow underwhelming entry in the Chiba cannon. Sonny's character is very intense, but his rage is suppressed, less volcanic and emotional than usual, and he kills from distance with his high powered rifle, rather than up close using his fists, as Chiba fans have become accustomed to seeing (Chiba does Bronson or Eastwood if you will). However the main problem is that, when the climax arrives, Sonny isn't involved in the real action, he gets to carry out his un-necessarily complicated assassination, but all the hand to hand fighting is left to the Hong Kong police, which is an big let down for hard core Chiba fans. So it's a decent espionage movie with Sonny Chiba the actor in it, rather than Sonny Chiba the martial arts star. One interesting cultural moment comes as Sonny is walking back to his hotel down a back alley, when he comes upon a man and woman arguing. The guy begins to slap her around as Sonny approaches. On the one hand, the part of your brain that has watched many Hollywood movies expects our hero to come to her aid, however those who have seen a few of Sonny's movies should know better, he just walks on by. However when she pulls a gun, shoots and kills the guy, she gets Sonny's attention. He is impresssed and helps her avoid arrest when the cops arrive, by saying she is with him and the shooter went that-a-way. As Sonny sums it up "The first shot was from anger, the second from fear and the third from love, you didn't want him to suffer".