ABSTRACT
Hong Kong action cinema has long created women warriors who fight men as equals. This trait is common to the swordplay film, the kung fu film and the gunplay film which in recent years have attracted cult following all over the world. Hong Kong’s women actioner films as such have provided a model for many recent Hollywood blockbusters – for example, The Matrix trilogy (1999, 2003), X-Men (2000), the Charlie’s Angels series (2000, 2003), Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 (2003, 2004), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: the Cradle of Life (2003), Elektra (2005) and Sin City (2005) which all feature fighting females doing battle with men on equal footing.1 The striking similarity might be attributed to the fact that Hong Kong kung fu masters/action choreographers like Yuen Woo Ping, Corey Yuen, Donnie Yen and Dion Lam have had a creative hand in these blockbusters.
