This has all the hallmarks of a Godfrey Ho potboiler: pacing issues, histrionics, goofy comedy and acts of extreme violence. First, the good stuff: it’s a buddy cop action comedy with excellent fight scenes designed in the mould of Lethal Weapon only with swapped gender roles – itself quite a refreshing premise – but it’s also a film that never once feels contrived. Focusing on the friendship of Moon (Moon Lee) and Lisa (Sharon Yeung), the two cops are assigned to protect the former PA of a wealthy businessman before she spills the beans on her boss’ criminal connections in court. The boss (Yueh Hua) commits his best gweilo goons to try and silence the witness, including familiar Hong Kong punching bags like Mark Houghton and Steve Tartalia. The film then follows a strange bifurcated sequence of events in which both Moon and Lisa are involved in unrelated subplots. Moon is targeted by a sex-crazed Japanese crackpot (played by Michiko Nishiwaki), eager to take revenge for the death of her husband who is killed in an explosive gun-battle at the start of the movie. Michiko first seduces Moon’s sorry-ass boyfriend, Dick (Anthony Tang), in an attempt to similarly destroy her relationship before leaning in for the kill. Once that story abruptly concludes, Lisa then learns of her adopted past and rekindles a relationship with her absent, criminal father (played by Kenneth Tsang), and what follows is a rather emotive rollercoaster of high-drama which secures powerful performances from both Tsang and Sharon Yeung. The film ends in a ‘heroic bloodshed’ finale in which the lethal Yeung gets to lay waste in style with twin guns blazing in balletic, John Woo-inspired fashion. It’s a crazily disjointed film but with enough to offer, particularly for followers of the ‘girls with guns’ sub-genre.

AKA: Angel Protectors; Iron Angels 4; Under Police Protection.