Black Mask (1996) poster
1996 · action · jet-li · superhero

Black Mask

Directed by Daniel Lee1h 39m1996
  • kinetic
  • intense

Super-soldier recruit Tsui Chik is forced to escape with his comrades after the project is canceled. Months later, he's trying to have a quiet life as a librarian with his best friend, Inspector Shek Wai-Ho. However, a string of vicious gangland murders begins that has all the markings of Tsui's former compatriots who seem to have turned to crime. Realizing that the police are helpless, he decides to take them on himself. With a disguise, Tsui becomes the mysterious superhero known only as Black Mask.

Our read · Black Mask (1996) reads as a neutral, breathless, inventive action · jet-li · superhero entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

Cast
Jet LiLau Ching-WanKaren Mok Man-WaiFrançoise YipPatrick Lung Kong
Fingerprint

The shape of Black Mask

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
Nearest by DNA

Eight films that read most like this one.

Geometric closeness in the twelve-axis space — pure DNA distance, not “people also liked.” Distance numbers are listed under each title for sceners who like to know the maths.

Your take
Rate it
star-clip-1-0star-clip-2-0star-clip-3-0star-clip-4-0star-clip-5-0
React
Discussion

Discussion

⌘↵ to post

What does your Movie DNA look like?

Rate a few films you've seen. We map your taste across the same twelve axes and find the films you'll actually want to watch tonight.

Calibrate yourself