Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Zero Woman:Hunted

However, Rei is in a bit of a slump. Not only does she shoot a criminal and leave him bleeding without killing him, she is haunted by the death of her father when she was a girl. Her boss tells her that she needs to go after Daidohji and his gang. "Failure could mean the end of Division Zero. Become a machine, or else you'll get yourself caught up." The translation's "tangled up" seems a better choice of words.

Rei runs into Katsumura and the two end up in bed. Yet Katsumura, attracted to her even though he has a girlfriend, Tomomi, hesitates in killing her, which is professionally very bad for a hitman. This puts him on very shaky ground with Daidohji, who demands him to get rid of Rei ASAP.

Rei too is hesitant, not only because of their encounter, but because of the traumatic memories of her father. She's also burned out of killing, yet she tries to do it on her own terms. Other times, she wishes she were dead.

The motion of the characters are kind of jerky in places, so it doesn't look like it was shot on film but rather some video camera. And people who have movies distributed by Asia Pulp Cinema can discover where the theme music used in APC's preview for coming attractions came from--here.

There is a higher degree of action here, with a shootout scene in a maze of metal shelves akin to that of a Western. In fact there is a bluesy harmonica that comes into play at times. Another time, Rei spots Katsumura and says to herself, "Doc Holliday."

I've only seen the first three Zero Womans, this one included, but Kumiko Takeda is by far the sexiest Rei I've ever seen. It's those pointed and pronounced eyebrows, plus those eyes that do it for me. However, for a better quality movie with Takeda, check out Close Your Eyes And Hold Me.

With the Zero Woman series taken over by Asia Pulp Cinema, yes, there is more violence, blood, and sex than when ZW was distributed by Tokyo Shock. However, it isn't made clear exactly what business Daidohji is into, and we never find out what causes Katsumura's bad dreams. Also, the ending left me as disillusioned and angry as Rei, and for that I knock this down a star. Worth as a time-killer and for looking at Kumiko Takeda.

That's one of the thoughts that Rei (zero in Japanese, hence Zero Woman) thinks at the beginning of this crime drama. She's lean and has a pretty yet haunted look on her, but she's a skillful operative with gun or sword, and in one instance, a butcher's hook. Yet despite the experience she's had shooting criminals, it's eating her away. "Killing still makes me shiver. It makes want someone to hold me."

Rei is assigned to intercept a suitcase of stock certificates worth ten million dollars, but a group of young Chinese punks intercept the suitcase and flee. The suitcase is handcuffed to a gangster, but that doesn't stop them. A swift chop of the sword and there's off, hand and all. After that, she is assigned a partner in Kishima and she instantly falls for him, leading to a really hot sex scene at his flat. Her investigations lead to a fortune-telling shop owned by Ann, who happens to be the sister of one of the thieves. A nice visual image is made by the pattern of yellow and red flower petals swirling in the glass vase at her shop.

The yakuza, whose leader has a penchant for shooting things on his video camera, are also after the stock certificates and the thieves. He also has a nasty younger brother who rapes Ann when he finds her.

I also detect a note of realism this drama tried to achieve. One was Rei chasing after one of the thieves. After an extended chase, both are winded, and there isn't the usual Hollywood action scene where the cop tackles the bad guy, says "Gotcha!" or "Hands up!" Instead, they take turns at a fountain in the woods, Rei keeping her gun trained while she takes a drink. Another is a really graphic surgery scene involving the extraction of a bullet with an exacto knife and pliers. Ouch!

Ozawa Natsuki (Rei) was a Japanese centerfold model and she appears topless quite a lot in the movie, including one where she drives with one hand and pulls the top of her dress down to wipe some spilled blood. Memo: add hand-eye coordination to her assets.

A very high body count in this movie, with lots of violence and blood, and yes my initial reaction to this when comparing it to Zero Woman Returns may have been harsh, but this isn't as bad as I initially made out to be.

Natsuki Ozawa plays "Zero Woman," an anonymous secret police agent in the "La Femme Nikita" mode. The differences between Zero and Nikita deal both the plus and minus cards in the flick.

The minus is that we learn little about what landed Zero Woman into her career as a killer for the law. Such a drag, because they did give a hint of depth to her by revealing that despite her long string of successful and flawless hits, she never gets over the chill of bumping off people. She looks smooth, calm, even poetic when executing a baddy, yet she has morals enough to stay on the right side of the law, and not buy into "police loyalty" if a cop goes crooked. She is an intriguing character, which impressed me in such a low budget shoot 'em up flick. Just a little more explanation into her former life and background would have vaulted this from a slick B-Movie to a top notch low budget hit in the tradition of "El Mariachi."

The plus? I have seen scores of "killer chick flicks." I enjoy them whether they be artsy "La Femme Nikitas," or cheapy "Switchblade Sisters." However, while these gals are sexy with provocative dress and implied sensuality, Natsuki Ozawa drives new meaning into the notion "steamy & sultry!" There are numerous scenes of a topless Ozawa (including one where she tears a blood stained dress off her body while driving away from a hit during the night)that are genuinely sensuous, and come off as much more than cheap T&A shots. Many of these partially-clad scenes show her sporting her gun; yes, real life violence is horrid, but chicks who shoot guns in movies are sexy!

If there is one major turn off in this film, it is the repeated use of the villains sexually assaulting their victims to incite the viewers anger. If the rest of the film was not so well made, I would have tossed the DVD out midway.

If you opt for the dubbed instead of the subtitled option, the dubbing is not too bad with the exception of the drugged out villainess whose voice is more than annoying: her dubbed voice is toxic, like an amped-up version of the Mrs. Swann character on Mad TV.

All in all, this is an impressive flick done on what looks like a shoestring budget. Natsuki Ozawa's performance is top notch, as are most of the performers. Worth checking out.