There are families that go into the same business. Whether it be farming, hardware, cars, medicine or even showbusiness; it’s easy to find kids who want to do what their parents did. The same can be true for police. How many cop shows featuring the old timer having served with the rookie’s old man? She Shoots Straight shows how family connected people at a police station in Hong Kong are. The film presents a different issue as normal family tensions boil over into the workplace. While it can seem like a police comedy with the setup, She Shoots Straight is a mostly serious female-oriented police thriller.
Inspector Mina Kao (Paper Marriage‘s Joyce Mina Godenz) marries Inspector Huang Tsung-Pao (Prison On Fire‘s Tony Leung), which means she’s marrying into a family of cops. This includes Huang’s sister Chia-Ling (Project A Part II‘s Carina Lau) who sees Mina as a marrying for a promotion. Cop work does come first including their honeymoon getting put on hold when Mina gets assigned to be a bodyguard for a visiting royal attending a fashion show. When terrorists arrive to attempt to kidnap the princess, Mina is ready for them. This turns into a wild time including Mina on a motorcycle chasing them down. She’s decorated for her heroic exploits which once more upsets her sister-in-law. A group of Vietnamese refugees led by Yuen Hua (Eastern Condor‘s Yeun Wah) escape from a Hong Kong Detention center. When word gets out that they’re going to rob a nightclub, Mina is put on the case to stakeout the club. While she thwarts the robbery, the gang promises to use Viet Cong tactics to get revenge on the police that stopped them. The sister-in-law is not happy that Mina is getting all the glory for her team’s work. When Vietnamese gang strikes, they hit deep into the heart of the police family. Can Mina recover?
She Shoots Straight has little comic moments, but it’s more of a drama between the major action scenes. The major shoot outs are top notch. This compares well with the other heroic bloodshed films that were being produced at this time in Hong Kong. They tear up a lot of the city streets in bullets and car wrecks. The cop ambush scene is non-stop action in the park with traps launching and exploding all over the screen. Yet the biggest part of the film is the tension between family members working on the police force.
Corey Yeun had previously directed Yes, Madame that teamed up Michelle Yeoh with Cynthia Rothrock. He knows how to bring action to a female driven police film. This time he has a harder edge to the tone because of the emotional ties between the characters. Joyce Mina Godenz looks great when the criminal chaos erupts. She didn’t make too many films before retiring from acting in 1991. She eventually she ended up marrying (and is still married to) Sammo Hung. She Shoots Straight is an intense female cop drama that delivers what you crave from Hong Kong in 1990.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a 2K restoration from the original negative. The action looks great during the big fights. The Audio is a remastered Cantonese LPCM 2.0 Mono. There is also a Cantonese LPCM 2.0 Stereo track. There’s a DTS-HD MA English dub that’s been recently done. Finally there’s the Classic English Dub in LPCM 2.0 mono. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary with Asian Cinema Expert Frank Djeng lets him give you context and background. He lets us know the Chinese title is Royal Family Female Warriors. The film was third best for the year as two Stephen Chow films topped the box office. I really enjoy how he tells you about the locations. (and if they’re still there). He also points how this movie is an adaptation of the Yang Female Warriors stories.
Interview with Scriptwriter Yuen Kai-Chi (15:46) has him talking about working with Sammo Hung after spending time at Shaw Brothers and Tsui Hark’s company. He joined when Barry Wong left. He talks about writing for the actors and actresses to create movies for them He didn’t know Joyce Godenzi. He gets into the pay of screenwriters at that time. He talks about working with Corey Yeun. He even gets into the difference between working with Corey Yuen and Sammo Hung. He also mentions Sammo didn’t secretly direct it. Sammo worked with Yuen as the producer.
Alternate English credits (2:23) has it titled Lethal Lady.
Image Gallery (2:20) has press photos and posters,
Original Hong Kong Trailer (2:37) lets us know this is explosive with a lot of major stunts. You also get the tension between the family members.
Reversible Sleeve has both the new art and the original poster with a back flex as the focus.
88 Films present She Shoots Straight. Directed by Corey Yuen. Screenplay by Barry Wong & Yuen Kai-chi. Joyce Mina Godenzi, Carina Lau, Sammo Hung, Tony Leung, Yuen Wah, Agnes Aurelio, Sarah Lee, Teddy Yip and Chung Fat. Running Time: 93 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: February 24, 2026.
