One of my favorite fight scene is when Joyce kicks Agnes between the legs and she falls down in agony and pain. After she recovers she tries to kick Joyce but Joyce quickly reacts and jumps up and knees Agnes in the crotch again and kicks her in her boobs ending the fight.

SHE SHOOTS STRAIGHT is another winner from director Corey Yuen and another instalment in the hugely popular girls-with-guns sub-genre of action films from Hong Kong. This one stars Mrs. Sammo Hung herself, Joyce Godenzi (perhaps best known for her supporting role in EASTERN CONDORS) playing a cop on the trail of some Vietnamese refugees with a fine line in robbery and murder. Godenzi contends with a goofy husband (the likable Tony Leung), a rubbish superior, Sammo himself in support, and lots of jealous female family members.This is very much an action film with the emphasis on the action. There's a whole lot of shooting and chasing going on, and Godenzi shows herself to be up to the job, rivalling the likes of Cynthia Khan at times. The martial arts sequences are kept quite brief but the film has a very fast pace and plenty of violent incident to enjoy. I was particularly delighted to find that Yuen Wah once again plays the villain and burns up the screen with his presence alone. There's a slow fifteen minutes in the middle of the film where everyone wallows in grief interminably, but the rest is thoroughly entertaining.

Corey Yuen's "She Shoots Straight" is not only a good action movie - it's above the average due to the tragic drama/character bits. There is a beautiful scene when a mother celebrates her birthday, not knowing yet that her son was killed by gangsters - some party guests witnessed it, yet nobody has the heart to tell her the sad news. Most genre movies would rather take a break from the action for for a little comedy scene in between. "She Shoots Straight" is one class above that. Anyhow, the story is basically quite simple, about the Hong Kong police fighting gangsters, and after the above mentioned guy was killed, his young widow (Joyce Godenzi), sisters and even his mom (what a great role for an old lady!) do everything they can to avenge him, while his former police colleagues are not a big help. Talking about the fights in "She Shoots Straight", particularly impressive is the violent clash of Joyce Godenzi versus Agnes Aurelio.

First let's get the point of this film out of the way. Sammo Hung was dating Joyce Godenzi (they married in 1995) and this film was designed one of several he was involved in to make her a star. Though not a bad actress (though she came to attention as a Beauty Queen) she was no fighter and despite Sammo's efforts to teach her the moves, it shows at times like the famous final fight with the Phillipine fighter Agnes Aurelio (who only made a few films). Sammo appears at various times throughout the film but only fights for a few seconds towards the end, presumably not to distract from his 'star'. Carina Lau is good as the sister who first hates Min (Joyce) but later fights with her to revenge the death of her brother (Min's husband - Tony Leung who has little to do except die well). The other sisters do little but special mention should be made of the feisty Matriarch (played by veteran Helena Law) who adds some character. I found the birthday party where she learns of the death of her son moving, though heavy handed for Western tastes at least. Yuen Wah is genuinely scary as the villain but the film would have been so much better id he had faced Sammo at the end and not just been killed rather pointlessly. You'll spot many other minor HK characters in this film. I enjoyed it, but I suspect it would have had a much higher score with Michelle Yeoh in the lead who could really fight. The now defunct Hong Kong Legends disc has a lot of extras.