Dreaming the Reality is a curious title but for once makes sense since main character Silver Fox (played by Moon Lee) has these dreams that make here think they predict her future. Not sure why she believes this so strongly since none of them have come out the way she dreamt. But are her dreams that significant?
Not really. They only are the consequence of fear and memory loss. Somehow that is what pushes her over the edge and to break with her foster father who is the best parent in the world, NOT! Example: The film begins where two little girls (around 5 or 6 years old) are shooting guns at bottles. They are incredibly efficient and don't miss at all. Then a cute fluffy bunny enters the scene who promptly gets killed by their evil foster brother. How does the father respond to this drama? He scolds them for having emotions about that damn bunny and immediately threatens them to stop complaining and nagging because they owe him eternal gratitude. Another example: Years later when the little girls are all grown up are put on an assassination of someone. They set up traps and wait for their target to arrive. Right before the target approaches a van with school kids in them manage to cut the target off and drive into the trap. The van explodes and all the kids die horribly. This understandably affects Silver Fox considerably and when her foster father asks her why she seems so troubled and she explains he says that is the risk of doing this business, "now stop nagging and do as I say". Father of the year award material right here.
It is admirable that they were trying to tell a story here but seeing how the father has not shown love once to these girls it is astonishing how they still are so loyal to him. The two sisters even discuss their futures to which Yukari's character says that they have no choice whatsoever. Both of them are very capable and grown up enough to cut their ties but obviously the plot demands that the foster father becomes the main villain in this story which is nice I guess. Only at the end the audience is let down since Silver Fox suddenly has to go all Buddhist on us and be forgiving.
Then there is a subplot concerning Si Lan-Fa (Sibelle Hu) and her little brother (not sure real or not) where he gets mixed up into with a gangster who seduced him riches and fame through thai boxing.
For almost an whole hour the plot with Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima and the one with Sibelle Hu are completely separate making you wonder if the writer involved mistakenly blended two different plots. Luckily for us it is then that the stakes get higher and the finale is near.
Yukari Oshima, Moon Lee and Sibelle Hu easily are the best of what this action film has to offer. Unfortunately most of the action sequences with them don't last that long to be fully enjoyed. Only the scene in the finale is noteworthy since it is of acceptable length and contains enjoyable action. However don't expect too much since it does not redeem the time you had to wait for it to happen.
I have seen worse but I can't recommend this since most of the time the action is over before you know it. For me these films have to deliver on the action. If they somehow fail to do that then it's a waste of time.
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