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The Inspector Wears Skirts

The Inspector Wears Skirts

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fun Comedy and Impressive Action.
Review: I don't want to mislead you - the movie does have a number of action scenes. But they take a back seat to the comedy in the film. For me, this film does feature some of the best martial arts, if not THE best work, by Cynthia Rothrock. People will say 'Yes Madam' or 'Righting Wrongs' when they are asked which is the best Rothrock film, but I strongly disagree. While those films featured more of her fighting, the coreography also relied heavily on stunt doubles for Rothrock. In fact, you can tell in on scene in 'Righting Wrongs' that it's her co-star Yuen Biao jumping on those tables in a dress! But I digress - this film also features some impressive fighting by Sibelle Hu, which is not something I can say often, since I've seen a number of her films where she looked absolutely awful.
Anyway, like I said at the beginning, if you're looking for a strictly Femme Fatale type of movie like those with Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima, you may be slightly disappointed. If you expect something similar to the My Lucky Stars films, except where the sex-starved males take a back seat to the women, then this movie is definitely for you.
An interesting note is that I read somewhere that Cynthia Rothrock's martial arts training was mainly focused on the Eagle Claw kung fu style. She uses it for a bit near the end of this film against a Monkey Kung Fu expert (see the film 'Iron Monkey (1977)' for more Monkey vs Eagle kung fu action), which is a treat to see. Too bad it's a little too brief for my tastes!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fun Comedy and Impressive Action.
Review: I don't want to mislead you - the movie does have a number of action scenes. But they take a back seat to the comedy in the film. For me, this film does feature some of the best martial arts, if not THE best work, by Cynthia Rothrock. People will say 'Yes Madam' or 'Righting Wrongs' when they are asked which is the best Rothrock film, but I strongly disagree. While those films featured more of her fighting, the coreography also relied heavily on stunt doubles for Rothrock. In fact, you can tell in on scene in 'Righting Wrongs' that it's her co-star Yuen Biao jumping on those tables in a dress! But I digress - this film also features some impressive fighting by Sibelle Hu, which is not something I can say often, since I've seen a number of her films where she looked absolutely awful.
Anyway, like I said at the beginning, if you're looking for a strictly Femme Fatale type of movie like those with Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima, you may be slightly disappointed. If you expect something similar to the My Lucky Stars films, except where the sex-starved males take a back seat to the women, then this movie is definitely for you.
An interesting note is that I read somewhere that Cynthia Rothrock's martial arts training was mainly focused on the Eagle Claw kung fu style. She uses it for a bit near the end of this film against a Monkey Kung Fu expert (see the film 'Iron Monkey (1977)' for more Monkey vs Eagle kung fu action), which is a treat to see. Too bad it's a little too brief for my tastes!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Funny for the kind of movie it is
Review: If you're looking for something meaningful and insightful, this isn't the movie you're looking for. If you're looking for some Hong Kong slapstick comedy or looking for a decent kung fu flick, this could be exactly what you're looking for, especially if what you want to see is some bad*** women deal the kung fu.

I first watched this as a 10 year old at home with my family, and we watched on and on, laughing till our bellies split.

The premise is simple. The Hong Kong authorities want to assemble a unit of female commandos, kind of like an all-girl swat team. This is the comical story of their "boot camp." Sibelle Hu plays the training unit's tough-as-nails 'drill sergeant.' Throughout training, the female brigade's rival are the boys training for an all-male unit. Admist the hilarious training fiascos, these girls also make time out of their day to play pranks on the boys in a sorority versus fraternity fashion. And when there's no training to goof up or boys to make fun of, they play pranks on each other- not all of them get along. Admist all of this, they even go beat up unfaithful boyfriends for each other.

Seeing that her unit needs some serious work, Sibelle Hu enlists the help of a comrade. Enter Cynthia Rothrock. She "substitute" teaches the unit of Chinese trainees to help Sibelle get the girls' acts together. It's hilarious when the girls realize they were better off with Sibelle, because Cynthia is even more hardcore than their original instructor. So, when Sibelle and Cynthia join forces, the group of slowly grow into something like the elite unit they're supposed to be.

Aside from the laughs (and there are plenty of those in this film!) there are some really good martial arts scenes. Towards the end of the film, Cynthia has an awesome showdown with a jewel theif- when he uses Monkey Style against her, she shifts tactics and busts out the Praying Mantis style to counter.

One word describes this movie- goofy. If you want some good ol' goofy laughs and a nice bite of kung fu to go with it, this is it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Funny for the kind of movie it is
Review: If you're looking for something meaningful and insightful, this isn't the movie you're looking for. If you're looking for some Hong Kong slapstick comedy or looking for a decent kung fu flick, this could be exactly what you're looking for, especially if what you want to see is some bad*** women deal the kung fu.

I first watched this as a 10 year old at home with my family, and we watched on and on, laughing till our bellies split.

The premise is simple. The Hong Kong authorities want to assemble a unit of female commandos, kind of like an all-girl swat team. This is the comical story of their "boot camp." Sibelle Hu plays the training unit's tough-as-nails 'drill sergeant.' Throughout training, the female brigade's rival are the boys training for an all-male unit. Admist the hilarious training fiascos, these girls also make time out of their day to play pranks on the boys in a sorority versus fraternity fashion. And when there's no training to goof up or boys to make fun of, they play pranks on each other- not all of them get along. Admist all of this, they even go beat up unfaithful boyfriends for each other.

Seeing that her unit needs some serious work, Sibelle Hu enlists the help of a comrade. Enter Cynthia Rothrock. She "substitute" teaches the unit of Chinese trainees to help Sibelle get the girls' acts together. It's hilarious when the girls realize they were better off with Sibelle, because Cynthia is even more hardcore than their original instructor. So, when Sibelle and Cynthia join forces, the group of slowly grow into something like the elite unit they're supposed to be.

Aside from the laughs (and there are plenty of those in this film!) there are some really good martial arts scenes. Towards the end of the film, Cynthia has an awesome showdown with a jewel theif- when he uses Monkey Style against her, she shifts tactics and busts out the Praying Mantis style to counter.

One word describes this movie- goofy. If you want some good ol' goofy laughs and a nice bite of kung fu to go with it, this is it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Woman Police Academy...
Review: Sibelle Hu is appointed to organize an all-women police squad in this Hong Kong girls with guns action-comedy take on "Police Academy". Her regimen is harsh, yet she earns the girls' respect when a male cadet vs. female cadet tournament ensues, with the women coming up victorious. Fang, the leader of the men's squad then falls for Sibelle, and they eventually find themselves on the same mission. On their very first assignment, they wind up bound and gagged by diamond robbers, until Sibelle takes care of business. All in all a mindless action flick.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Woman Police Academy...
Review: Sibelle Hu is appointed to organize an all-women police squad in this Hong Kong girls with guns action-comedy take on "Police Academy". Her regimen is harsh, yet she earns the girls' respect when a male cadet vs. female cadet tournament ensues, with the women coming up victorious. Fang, the leader of the men's squad then falls for Sibelle, and they eventually find themselves on the same mission. On their very first assignment, they wind up bound and gagged by diamond robbers, until Sibelle takes care of business. All in all a mindless action flick.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fun but silly...
Review: This is a light, slapstick comedy in "Police Academy" style. Sibelle Hu stars as tough-as-nails police academy sergeant is chosen to lead an all-girl police academy team known as the 'female commandos.' While at first the girls seem to be failing to become a cohesive team, Hu's vigilance, and the girls own work-ethic soon persevere, and the Female Commandos become a force to reckon with.

I really liked Inspector Wears Skirts, but it was neither a serious or sophisticated flick...It is what it is... A Chinese kung-fu slapstick movie, taken in this vein, it was pretty funny.

This is the first in a series of "Inspector" films. If you like, slapstick cop films, you'll like this one. The only thing I DIDN'T like about this movie was the rather abrupt ending and the poor subtitles.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fun but silly...
Review: This is a light, slapstick comedy in "Police Academy" style. Sibelle Hu stars as tough-as-nails police academy sergeant is chosen to lead an all-girl police academy team known as the 'female commandos.' While at first the girls seem to be failing to become a cohesive team, Hu's vigilance, and the girls own work-ethic soon persevere, and the Female Commandos become a force to reckon with.

I really liked Inspector Wears Skirts, but it was neither a serious or sophisticated flick...It is what it is... A Chinese kung-fu slapstick movie, taken in this vein, it was pretty funny.

This is the first in a series of "Inspector" films. If you like, slapstick cop films, you'll like this one. The only thing I DIDN'T like about this movie was the rather abrupt ending and the poor subtitles.


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