The Inspector Wears Skirts (1988)

The Inspector Wears Skirts (1988)- * * *

Directed by: Wellson Chin

Starring: Sibelle Hu, Cynthia Rothrock, and Stanley Fung









Madam Wu (Hu) is the Training Officer in charge of taking young female recruits and whipping them into fighting shape. Through constant training, the goal is to create a female commando unit that is highly capable of executing dangerous missions, with no one expecting this cadre of beauties to be such a powerful fighting force. In between climbing the monkey bars and attempting to get over walls, romance and misadventure are in the air, as an all-male unit is training nearby. Their squad is led by Mr. Kan (Stanley Fung), who naturally is attracted to the hard-to-get Madam Wu. All manner of comedic and romantic situations ensue, until the final fight. 

Also Cynthia Rothrock is on hand somewhat as Madam Lo, an agent fighting the bad guys. Will our squad of spunky cadets graduate and beat the baddies, not to mention fall in love? Find out today!

The Inspector Wears Skirts opens with a bang, and also closes with one, with a bookending pair of killer fight sequences. The meat in the middle of this explosive bread mainly consists of inoffensive and silly romance/comedy. It must have been just the right formula, because the IWS series spawned three further sequels after this initial offering. While the first two films in the series are directed by Wellson Chin, there have been rumors for years that they were actually directed by Jackie Chan. While Chan did indeed produce the first two films, his level of involvement in, around or near the directors chair remains unknown. 

But it makes sense that Chan was involved one way or another, because the audience-pleasing mix of action, romance and comedy is right in his wheelhouse. This should give you the feeling of the overall tenor of what’s going on here.

While the movie could have used at least one more big action setpiece in the middle, the cast is hugely appealing and it kind of makes you forget about the actionless lull in the center. Rothrock’s prowess is fully on display in the scenes that she’s in, and all the other ladies get to show off as well. 

And not just in the realm of Martial Arts - check out Ann Bridgewater’s amazing dance moves in the time-honored disco sequence. We would have been happy with just this, as we always watch out for the disco scene in any movie, but the movie tops itself with a show-stopping sequence in a roller rink. We won’t give anything away, but it’s hard to put into words just how much we loved this scene.

So there’s a ton of training, minimal but high-quality Rothrock, and a nice cast, but the movie could have used a strong, central villain to pull everything together. But it’s filled with that Hong Kong 80’s style we all know and love. Fans of said style should enjoy this, unless they are cynical and lame. For the rest of us, The Inspector Wears Skirts remains a fun outing.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Dreaming The Reality (1991)

Dreaming The Reality (1991)- * * *

Directed by: Chin-Ku Lu

Starring: Eddy Ko, Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima, Sibelle Hu, and Ben Lam









While under the care of their foster father named Fok (Eddy Ko), two young girls, Silver Fox, and her Sister (who will later grown up to be Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima, respectively) are trained in the ways of guns, assassinations and killing. Fok is a ruthless gangster boss who thinks nothing of using his daughters to eliminate anyone who he sees fit. But one of them may not be cut out for the life of a covert assassin...which one will it be? 

Meanwhile, a woman named Sister Lan (Hu) and her brother Rocky (Lam) are big boxing fans. Rocky tries his hand at the Thai boxing style and is successful, but falls under the spell of a diabolical promoter named Mr. Chin. When the two killer sisters go to Thailand and end up crossing paths with the other two siblings, the stage is set for an action-packed finale in which true motivations are revealed. Who will be living in the real world and who will be DREAMING THE REALITY?

Dreaming the Reality was another one of those elusive titles that was hard to find in America. The title doesn’t even seem like it would be for an action film. But indeed it is, and it’s a cross between an assassin movie and a boxing movie. 

It was about time someone mashed those two things together. There’s nothing wrong with that, however, and the movie has that early-90’s HK feel we all know and love. There’s more than enough shooting and fighting to satisfy just about anyone, and fans of this genre especially should be pleased. Especially with the trio of Yukari Oshima, Moon Lee and Sibelle Hu at the forefront. This was the height of the Hong Kong “girls with guns” craze, and here is another prime example. Oshima and Lee do look very cool with their sunglasses and trenchcoats. Sibelle Hu is the sort of tomboyish “normal” girl. But the three of them are truly the selling point, along with the action scenes of course.

There are some extended boxing sequences that get kind of repetitive and numbing after a while, which is probably the only real negative we can say about Dreaming the Reality. They tend to slow down the pace of the movie, and at 98 minutes, something could have been trimmed. 

Of course, plotwise, there are plenty of twists and turns along the way, and an action movie from the early 90’s wouldn’t be complete without a sought-after floppy disk. In this particular case it’s orange, which makes for a nice visual change from the usual black.

There’s not much more to say, really...fans of HK action cinema will surely enjoy it, and even non-fans could potentially find something in it for them. It’s a solidly entertaining movie, but it’s hampered somewhat by some pacing problems. If you can find it inexpensively, we say check it out.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty