Guardian Angel

I was a big fan of martial arts star Cynthia Rothrock during the '80s (In the Line of Duty 2, Above The Law, Shanghai Express), but stopped following her career soon after she left the Hong Kong movie scene to make films in the States. Guardian Angel makes me think that I didn't miss much.

In this mediocre martial arts action flick from director Richard W. Munchkin, Rothrock plays tough policewoman Christine McKay, who gives up law enforcement to become a bodyguard after her fiancé is fatally shot in the line of duty. When millionaire playboy Lawton Hobbs (Daniel McVicar) calls McKay looking for protection from an obsessive ex-girlfriend, little does she realise that the woman in question is Nina (Lydie Denier), the psychotic counterfeiter who killed her lover in cold blood.

This weak plot offers little in the way of ingenuity, meaning that the film is only as good as its action scenes. As usual, Rothrock's agility compensates for her wooden acting, but Munchkin's uninspired direction does the star few favours; the same can be said of her awful wardrobe, which includes a really nasty pair of baggy denim jeans with stone washed areas on the seat that are far from flattering.

After lots of so-so bouts of kicking and punching (plus plenty more fashion disasters from all concerned), the film wraps matters up with a mediocre chase scene involving a jet-ski, a helicopter, and a pair of speedboats.

What starts off as a very promising action flick, soon becomes muddled and disorientated. I'm not sure of the background to this film, was there three different directors? Was there a screenplay change halfway through? Was there a director change? Was the editor a madman? As what begins very positive soon becomes a confusing mash up of cheese, camp and serious drama switching from scene to scene.

We are thrown straight into a real gem of a fight scene, full of cheese but great action, as Kristine McKay played by the talented and beautiful Cynthia Rothrock along with her partner get in between the middle of a gang war that is like a royal rumble the WWF (WWE to our younger generation) would be proud of. The action keeps on coming over the next few scenes, as McKay's relationship with her partner is built up until her partner's demise. After a very brief interrogation from McKay of the cop killer, we are forever to forget about her partner.

Next up is partner number 2 to help her solve the fraudulent cash ring and he is her future husband. Without much of an effort put in to build up Nick Taylor (Marshall R. Teague), we are left reeling over McKay's first partner and can't really buy into McKay and her loss of her 2nd partner and fiancé. (I was still grief stricken over partner number 1).

McKay unhappy with the police force quits and becomes a private bodyguard, probably for the best as she wasn't a very good cop, caused the shoot-out in the first scene and interrogated her partners killer for 5 seconds, then let him go. She is hired by the wealthy womaniser Hobbs (Daniel McVicar) and soon we learn that she is protecting him from the same woman Nina (Lydie Denier), that killed her fiancé. While Hobbs tries on the charm will McKay be able to protect him from the criminal underworld led by Nina.

The action is solid and starts off with a bang, the acting is decent, but the film does get a little drawn out and the pacing becomes slow in the 2nd half. The mish mash of camp to drama to action to cheese is confusing, without taking too much away from it though as the film is still an entertaining watch. Cynthia Rothrock is herself, not the greatest of actors but she can kick ass, nowhere near her best film but if you're a fan of her or just 80's/90's action, then give this a gander.

For the cheesemeisters when McKay comes off a horse, tears will flow from your eyes at the body being dragged around and parts coming off.

this movie has a decent story in my opinion,very good fight scenes but i was a little bit disappointed by the end of the movie.i think that it was a way better if lydie denier knew karate also or if she knew to use some weapons,her character has become more interesting too and she was a decent opponent to cynthia.i think when the director filmed the final 'battle' between cynthia&denier he wanted to finish the movie earlier so he didn't care how the end was going to be.all in all i think that fans of cynthia rothrock will be very satisfied watching this movie.it's not like 'yes,madam'! or sworn to justice but it was entertainment enough and cynthia looks awesome in this movie so my rate for this movie is a solid 8/10

I knew that the movie existed, but I never got around to watching it, as I were never much of a fan of Cynthia Rothrock. But I finally got around to watching it here in 2025, better late than never.

I didn't harbor the biggest of expectations to the movie, as Cynthia Rothrock movies tend to be cut from the same stone. But perhaps writer Jacobsen Hart and director Richard W. Munchkin had something of a surprise in wait for me here.

Writer Jacobsen Hart put together a rather bland and monotonous script for the movie. I have to admit that my attention on the narrative was fast waning as the movie trotted on and on. There wasn't much of anything overly interesting going on, aside from the occasional fight scene.

The only familiar faces on the cast list for me was Cynthia Rothrock, Daniel McVicar and Robert Miano. The acting performances in the movie were okay, despite the fact that the script was subpar.

Luckily there was a fair amount of fighting and action throughout the course of the movie, which helped keep the movie afloat and semi-watchable.

This was, however, hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing.

My rating of "Guardian Angel" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

"Guardian Angel" could possibly be the best of Cynthia Rothrock's early 90's low-budget American martial arts flicks, IF the whole movie was as good as its first half hour: during that time we get some dynamic fights, gunplay, a car chase, two car crashes, bad girls with guns, a tight plot, etc. But after Cynthia quits the police force and becomes a bodyguard, the film becomes repetitive and starts to drag. The absolutely gorgeous Lydie Denier (who really caught my eye in a couple of "Acapulco H.E.A.T" episodes I happened to watch) playing a truly evil bi*ch is a definite plus, but the lack of a proper showdown between her and Rothrock is a disappointment. The climax is a relatively large-scale speedboats-and-helicopter chase, but most of it appears to have been done by stunt doubles and is not very exciting. (**1/2)