So here it is -- Yes, Madam -- Michelle Yeoh's first starring role, back in 1985. I'd been wanting to see this one for a few years. I was a bit worried because the DVD appeared to be a bootleg once it arrived, but it worked fine, so I won't complain. But wow, Yeoh was so amazing in the film. She had won the title of Miss Malaysia just a couple years earlier, for damn good reason, but she took her start in the action genre seriously and trained hard for a few months before shooting began. Sammo Hung himself was the producer (and has a cameo, along with half the industry), and he was looking for two female leads, to make something different from the typical male buddy-cop films. For a co-star they got Cynthia Rothrock, who was making her start in the genre as well. Though she was the real deal as far as martial arts skill. I was interested in the film more for Yeoh but Rothrock certainly held her own. Well, with the action, not the acting, ha ha.
Now then, the average American audience might not think much of the movie. It's full of the kind of very odd and stupid HK humor that I've gotten used to. But Yeoh shines in every moment she's on screen, and the action scenes are incredible. In particular the final fights near the end of the film had me as excited as being at a Bulls game. I couldn't believe some of the stuff they were pulling off. My heart goes out to those stunt men!! The actual final minute of the film caught me off guard, though it was realistic. But damn... that ten minutes or so of fighting was among the best I've ever seen.
