Michelle Yeoh is Inspector Ng, celebrated maverick cop. The film opens with a display of her prowess, as a simple arrest of a flasher takes them to the scene of an armed robbery where Ng takes the crooks down single-handedly. She's had enough of the hectic life of being a celebrated maverick cop however, and is looking forward to going on holiday to the UK to see her old friends at Scotland Yard. Her teacher there is in Hong Kong to see her too, and they arrange a dinner date. What Ng doesn't know is that her old teacher is making some sort of deal in his hotel room with a mysterious armed man. The armed man has a suitcase of money to exchange for a microfilm which is of vital importance to his boss. The armed man shoots Ng's teacher after becoming impatient, but his search for the microfilm is cut short by the appearance of a petty thief disguised as a bellboy who is breaking into rooms and stealing from the guests.

The faux bellboy sees the collection of document's and the man's wallet in the room, and takes them before the armed killer can do anything about it. The thief meets up with his accomplice and we are introduced to two more of our characters, the bungling thieves Asprin and Strepsil. They take their stolen wares and escape, but not before Inspector Ng sees them, and then finds her old teacher dead in his room. Asprin and Strepsil take the stolen items to their friend, a skilled forger called Panadol (played by famous HK film director Tsui Hark!). Amongst the goods they stole from the dead man's room was his passport, which Panadol alters by changing the photo in the back, not realising that the highly sought-after microfilm is on the back of the passport! Zoinks! After tracing the passport back to Panadol, the Police are after him and his two chums, but so is the maniacally laughing crime boss Tin (James Tien) and his cronies. As if we didn't already have enough characters, Inspector Carrie Morris (Cynthia Rothrock) arrives from London to help investigate the death of her boss, and her techniques (that seem to consist of just beating the crap out of everything) put her at odds with Ng. However as Tin and his cronies get closer to the pharmaceutical brothers (I'm not typing their names out every time darn it!), Ng and Morris must find a way to coexist and kick the crap out of everybody to save the day!

What we have here is a cheerful little low-budget Hong Kong action movie, made all the more interesting by the early starring role for Michelle Yeoh, and an acting role for Tsui Hark. The story itself is a little over-complicated thanks to the antics of the pharmaceutical brothers, as they goof around and bumble in and out of dangerous situations like Hong Kong movie comic relief usually do. However their exploits manage to remain entertaining and don't distract from the story line too much. The supporting characters are a pretty bland bunch however with the exception of James Tien as the cheesy villain Tin. He hams up every scene he's in, forever holding a pipe and ending every appearance with horribly forced ‘evil' laughter which sometimes pushes his performance just the wrong side of camp. His chief henchmen, Dick and Mad Dog aren't much better. Dick (Dick Wei) has very little personality, but does look awesome in his fights, while Mad Dog (Fat Chung) is just silly – with a short afro and fake bushy facial hair and eyebrows. Nope, character development wasn't high on the agenda in this film, but the action was. Filmed in such a way that you usually get a good view of what's going on, everyone involved does great, particularly in the climactic fight scenes. Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock both really make good impressions, both battling at a frenetic pace and are both fantastic examples of how to create good, strong female action characters. Dick Wei also really stands out with some fast kicking technique, his sequences with Rothrock perhaps being technically the best in the movie.

Michelle Yeoh really shines, it's a blast watching her cut her teeth as a leading character in an action movie, and its easy to see why she became such a massive star in the Far East. Looking extremely young and cute, Yeoh does all her own stunts and fight sequences and was already showing a tremendous amount of potential. Her fight scenes are impressive and punchy, and her strong screen presence certainly adds to the role. Considering she had no martial arts experience before making this film, only training in dancing, Yeoh is spectacular in her scenes and it makes her all the more impressive knowing this was without any previous experience Its also very interesting seeing Cynthia Rothrock appear in her first action movie. As a former world martial arts champion she certainly had the ability, and she is clearly a more experienced and more proficient fighter than Yeoh. However she just doesn't have the screen presence of her radiant co-star, and she comes off as extremely wooden, though that's no great surprise considering she had no previous experience. Its interesting seeing the paths these two women took, Michelle Yeoh improving in every role she took until she was one of the biggest stars in the Hong Kong movie industry, while Cynthia's superb abilities were not enough, her lack of acting talent meaning that she unfortunately couldn't hope of matching her co-star's success.

Things still aren't all rosy for this picture though, most notable in a complete lack of characterisation. Even the friction they attempt to establish between Rothrock and Yeoh never really convinces, and doesn't make any great difference to the plot. Also, with the exception of a fun cameo from Sammo Hung and comedy actor Richard Ng, the supporting cast are incredibly bland and uninteresting. The interaction between Yeoh and her fellow policemen is not terribly engaging and is ultimately pointless. Unfortunately, the film has dated quite badly too. Mid-80's fashion is on full horrendous display here, Michelle Yeoh especially being cursed with some simply terrible outfits that really don't suit her character particularly well, Cynthia doesn't fair much better either. The ending too is frustrating, with a feel they painted themselves into a corner and couldn't think of a satisfying way to end it. It ends very abruptly and awkwardly in a way that just doesn't seem in character with the rest of the film, it almost feels that they just plain ran out of film.

Despite these niggles, it's the action scenes that will draw you back to this film for repeat viewing, and they certainly are of an impressively high standard (except for the fake leg mishap pictured above perhaps), even if they could have done with being a bit more numerous. Rothrock shows us a talent that unfortunately could not lead her onto bigger and better things, while Yeoh shows some of the grace and skill that would catapult her into the big time in Hong Kong, leading to the likes of her wonderful performance in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Not an essential purchase unless you're a massive Yeoh/Rothrock/Hong Kong movie fan, but certainly worth at least a rental for those with any interest in seeing some innovative and exhilarating action set pieces.

And I was right. "Different" in the sense that it doesn't play out at all like the plot summaries on the package and elsewhere on the web would have you believe. The movie is described as an action flick with Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock as cops (surprise, surprise) doing pretty standard HK action flick cop stuff. Not so! The main thrust of the movie is three friends...Aspirin, Strepsil and Panadol...trying to make a big score by diving into the deep end of the organized crime pool and cutting a deal with the notorious Mr. Tin. Aspirin and Strepsil and petty thieves and Panadol is a forger/counterfeit artist who has the most unintentionally funny line in the film: "I'll do things unthinkable of!" Strepsil is stuck with the role of mediator when Aspirin and Panadol bicker (which is all the time) and Sammo Hung has a small role as their mentor, referred to only as "the old man". It's odd to see Sammo as a young man pretending to be even older than he is no (2/21/01). Tsui Hark also appears in the film...I believe he plays Panadol but since I'm not accustomed to seeing him, don't think that's set in stone. The guy who plays Mr. Tin has just about the worst diabolical laughter ever produced by villain or villainess. Young Michelle Yeoh, in one of her earliest films (#2 unless I'm mistaken) may be considered the lead and may have the most screen time but she most certainly is NOT the central figure in the story. Neither is Cynthia. This ain't no mindless "You go, girl" flick about women just kicking ass...but you might wish it was.

There's a brief and pointless shootout to start things off; then, for a good hour or so, the story just plods along with a dash of excitement every now and then to keep the viewer at least vaguely interested. The catalyst for Michelle to have the case dumped into her lap is the murder of her friend Richard (which doesn't seem to bother her on a personal level even one little bit). Cynthia Rothrock gets introduced a later on and beats up a fleeing suspect in an airport. Then she beats him up again in the interrogation room. That's pretty much all she likes to do. Beat people up. Michelle's character is more of a good Samaritan type of cop. She may be the beauty queen, but Cynthia is more fun to watch.

Like I said, the plot (such as it is) focuses primarily on Aspirin, Strepsil and Panadol. Panadol is, to be blunt, an addle-brained buffoon, and his buddies aren't exactly criminal geniuses either. Their antics are supposed to be amusing, but they give you an unpleasant sense of "filler". Strange jokes pop up in odd places throughout the film to catch you off guard, but for the most part, they're pretty lame. One notable exception is when Panadol (a complete wuss in addition to being a jackass) must elude an angry ex-customer inside his tiny apartment, which is cluttered with all sorts of obstacles that he uses to his advantage in order to keep his attacker from throttling him. Additionally, there's a part where a civil servant and a police officer argue over the right to give a parking ticket which is worth a snigger or two. Also worth mentioning: a plastic tit, an unusual recipe for applesauce, and Mr. Tin's henchman who looks like a caricature of Saddam Hussein.

So what's the point of all this? Well, it turns out that Aspirin and Strepsil have inadvertently stolen a microfilm from Mr. Tin, and it has fallen into Panadol's possession. On the microfilm is a forged real estate contract worth billions of dollars. This is the plot device around which lots of shit revolves, yet it's hardly given a mention.

So, we have two ass-kicking ladies not kicking much ass and three nincompoops not doing much of anything for about an hour and twenty.

And then, the payoff.

Considering thie sparse and watered down action seen for the majority of the movie, my expectations for the inevitable showdown between the forces of good and the unscrupulous Mr. Tin weren't too high. When said showdown took place (it WAS inevitable, after all) I was much relieved to see that the film had not been a complete waste of time. While not epic by any means, it is a very good "Us vs. Them" battle with Michelle and Cynthia sending bodies flying everywhere and Strepsil just trying to survive (the part where he's cornered by swordsmen is the funniest bit in the movie; you'll know it when you see it). After the peons are dealt with, they go after the big fish. This whole scene seems to be where most of the budget went. They really make a mess out of Mr. Tin's home. The Police Story influence isn't hard to see.

So, when that's all dealt with, it just remains for everyone to go home and live happily ever after, right? Wrong. The very end of the movie tosses out the NLP (Neat Little Package) syndrome and hits the viewer in the balls (female readers, substitute the body part of your choice). All in all, a so-so movie with a very nice finish, but not worth writing home over (unless it's next door).

The story is very basic as two cops go after the villain no matter what the consequences are. In this case though, the two cops are Michelle and Cynthia Rothrock. They are fantastic - there are some action scenes that are therapeutic and bring you to your feet. Though Michelle became a star with this movie, Cynthia's work is almost more impressive. The final 20-minute fight scene when the two of them take on a roomful of opponents is one of the most amazing action sequences ever - it contains the incredible balcony - head through glass - shot of Michelle and other terrific stunts.

Whenever these two are on the screen it sizzles. A Hong Kong classic and an essential must-see film.