Wow! Such a good movie.

Masterful Movie

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

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.

Actress Sibelle Hu stars as Madam Wu, a character that is spun-off from the "Five Lucky Stars" movie series. Here, she is in charge of training a group of female Banshee Squad Members of the Hong Kong Police Force. Next door to their academy is the male Tiger Squad Members, led by Inspector Kan (Shui-Fan Fung).What started out as some rigorous training action quickly was reduced to a prolonged scene set at a roller-skating rink towards the middle of the movie, where the Tiger Squad members try to court the Banshee Squad members. This scene really dragged with unnecessary slapstick humor that distracts from the movie's main plot. The subplots of the members courting one another and the rivalry of Madam Wu and Inspector Kan are not interwoven into the story well, making you wonder what the main objective of this movie's story is. Some butt-kicking and gut-totting action do not take place until the end of the film.So, if you are a fan of slapstick comedy, give this film a watch. If you are a fan of action movies only, watch the beginning, than forward to the end.Grade C-

The movie makes you think that it's a police action movie like "In the line of Duty". It's actually not. It's about women police academy students and their misadventures.Almost third of the movie is spent on the stupid skate rink scene. The other third is spent on boring training scene. There's hardly any story to this movie.The movie says it's produced by Jackie Chan. If it's true, this is the worst movie he's ever made.There's a teaser action scene involving Sibelle Hu and Cynthia Rothrock in the beginning. If the movie went on in entirety with this kind of action, it would have been a pretty good action movie. Instead it's mostly acted by novice female actors that are less than a comic relief.This is the first movie I see Sandra Ng in. The movie has no focus, and jumps from one topic to another. It's one of the worst movie I've ever seen, from Hong Kong or otherwise.

First, I feel I should mention that I LOVE Hong Kong films. I like Hong Kong action movies, and I've found funny Hong Kong comedies. This movie mixes action and comedy together, but this mix doesn't work this time around. Pretty much all of the female characters in the movie are wimpy whiners and act in other ways that are pretty stereotypical. (Maybe Hong Kong audiences might find this funny, but I didn't.) The men are a bunch of sexist pigs for the most part. Again, this behavior may be funny to a foreign audience, but I don't think it will go well for many westerners. Another big weakness of the movie is that there is really no plot, just a bunch of vignettes stitched together with the flimsiest of excuses. On the plus side, the opening and closing parts of the movie do have some acceptable action. And while this movie may be flawed, it is certainly better than all the awful movies Cynthia Rothrock has made in the U.S.