“She Shoots Straight” Theatrical Poster
Director: Corey Yuen
Cast: Joyce Godenzi, Carina Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Sandra Ng, Sammo Hung, Chi-Wing Lau, Pik-Wan Tang, Yuen Wah, Agnes Aurelio, Bill Tung, Bruce Fontaine
Running Time: 87 min
By Numskull
She shoots, but does she score? Yes and no. This film benefits from some good ass kickin’ and fairly impressive stunts (many performed by women, others performed by stuntmen with wigs), and suffers from a soapy sap opera (yeah, you read it right) background plot and a birthday party/restaurant scene that goes way, way, WAY too long.
The lead character, Mina, doesn’t make a very convincing woman. Sure she’s female, but she only acts it when it’s time to shed some tears. Basically, she’s a man with breasts and a husband. That’s not why her sisters-in-law (like, five of them) dislike her, though. They don’t like the fact that she holds a higher position than they do in the police force, and that she places her career before making another damn baby to turn into a cop 18 years later. Despite that fact, it is later revealed…in a scene where she must undergo surgery without benefit of anesthetic…that Mina IS pregnant. You think she lets that slow her down? Of course not. She recovers from life-or-death surgery in about 20 minutes and immediately resumes her supercop routine, jumping all over the place and getting kicked in the abdomen several times during the final fight scene. The film avoids the unresolved issue of whether her womb contains a fetus or baby powder (dear God I’m a sick bastard) by simply ending the movie right after said fight. Sheesh.
The eldest Huang sister, Ling, is Mina’s most vocal adversary, until her brother’s death unites the women. Their common enemies: Yuen Wah, Agnes Aurelio, and their Vietnamese partners in crime. Those of you who are sensitive to high body counts will just love this: in one of the early scenes, a machine gun-toting Yuen Wah mows down quite a few rivals and bystanders…by pointing the weapon straight ahead and holding the trigger. His victims, you see, don’t flee for cover as common sense would dictate…they deliberately jump INTO his line of fire instead. I guess they wanted to absorb as many bullets with their bodies as they could so that he couldn’t lay waste to their marketplace stalls without changing clips. Mission accomplished, people. Well done.
Later on, there’s another shootout which is partially shot in infrared, as seen through the goggles of the bad guys. Well, that’s sorta cool. I guess.
Best scene in the movie: Mina and Ling storm a ship full of bad guys in a furious battle involving axes, machetes, chains, lead pipes, and sledge hammers. One particularly good spot here has Ling being attacked from both ends in a narrow hallway, with no room to maneuver left and right. When the two women emerge from the ship, it’s full daylight, despite the fact that it was pitch black outside about five minutes ago. To top things off, Joyce Godenzi and Agnes Aurelio go one-on-one (and roll around in the dirt a little bit, for those of you who are into that kind of thing) in a scene that recalls Cynthia Rothrock vs. Karen Shepard from Righting Wrongs…Corey Yuen directing two women of less than 100% Asian heritage (for Aurelio I’m just assuming based on her name, but Godenzi definitely looks part gwailo) and giving them a good amount of room to strut their stuff. Let it never be said he’s not an equal opportunity kinda guy. This fight does not suffer from the “close quarters” photography for which Yuen took heat in “Kiss of the Dragon”…probably because it takes place outside. Godenzi emerges triumphant by polishing Aurelio off with the devastating Tit Kick. Cool.
If movies were like meals, this one would be like an extra value meal from McDonalds or Burger King or one of those artery-clogging joints…sufficiently filling, but not exactly a feast. Sammo Hung only has a supporting role and the film definitely would have been better off if he had done more than a few seconds’ worth of fighting. Also, much like Corey Yuen’s “Yes, Madam”, the action isn’t spread evenly enough. We all love a slam-bang finale, but She Shoots Straight really could have used some spicing up in the first half.
Oh yeah, and the Huang matriarch (a gentle woman who looks to be in her late 50s, maybe 60) gives some guy the finger. Cool again.
Numskull’s Rating: 6/10
