“Princess Madam” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: Godfrey Ho
Cast: Sharon Yeung, Moon Lee, Michiko Nishiwaki, Anthony Tang, Liu Kai Chi, Yueh Hua, Kenneth Tsang, Cheng Yuen Man, Mark Houghton, Steve Tartalia, James Ha Chim Si, John Ladalski, Lau Shung Fung, Lee Chun Hwa
Running Time: 92 min.
By Brmanuk
Directed by the king of cut-and-paste Godfrey Ho, ‘girls and guns’ flick Princess Madam is actually one of the director’s better efforts. When a secretary agrees to testify in court against a semi-retired Triad boss, two cops, Moon (Moon Lee) and Lisa (Sharon Yeung), are ordered to protect her from being assassinated. When Moon kills a would-be assassin, his girlfriend (played by Michiko Nishiwaki) vows revenge. Matters are complicated further when Lisa’s stepfather, an accomplice of the Triad boss under investigation, is ordered to sever all ties with his stepdaughter. Add in a plot twist and you have a decent narrative which unfortunately becomes muddled due to shoddy editing.
The problem, it seems, is that Godfrey Ho couldn’t decide which plot line to focus on, and as such, Princess Madam meanders between numerous sub-plots before dropping most of them almost all-together. The film eventually finds its focus about half-way through and concentrates on Sharon Yeung’s character, Lisa, who is torn between upholding the law and honouring her stepfather. Yeung brings some surprising depth to her character and, along with Moon Lee, provides some decent, if slightly generic action sequences. With the presence of Moon Lee, Michiko Nishiwaki and Sharon Yeung, one would have expected the action scenes to have been better than they are. Whilst they are entertaining they certainly don’t break new ground, and the film has a tendency to rely a little too heavily on poorly choreographed shootouts.
Although the film appears to have been made very cheaply and, judging by the muddled editing, very quickly, Princess Madam is a fun flick which keeps a steady pace and never becomes boring. It’s just a shame that Godfrey Ho didn’t hire a better editor.
Brmanuk’s Rating: 6/10
I wish all the “girls with guns” flicks weren’t out of print and/or unavailable to rent from Netflix. The last great one I saw was “She Shoots Straight.” But I’m dying to see “Yes, Madam” and other movies like this one. *weep*
Good review, even if the movie was just so/so. 🙂
Thanks! And yeah, I’ve recently gotten into this genre. In hindsight I feel my score of 6/10 was perhaps a little harsh. Maybe I should have given it a 7. It’s difficult to judge, however, as some films such as Angels or indeed She Shoots Straight are a lot better.
Many 1980s and ’90s HK movies are available on youtube.
A HK Movie Watcher since 1985.