88 Films Blu-ray Synopsis: Inspector Kan (Stanley Fung), now married to Madame Wu (Sibelle Hu), has been instructed to train the Banshee Squad Members after Madame Wu goes into semi-retirement. For their next mission, the Squad is assigned to go undercover into a Casino Ship to nab a group of thieves responsible for stolen law enforcement and military weapons. (97 Mins)

 

Views: Originally released in 1990 as Raid On Royal Casino Marine, the third chapter of The Inspector Wears Skirts series is a much more entertaining and tidier entry than part two, albeit with some big changes such a reduced cast and more outrageous comedy sequences that come across more like the Lucky Stars films or that seen in a Stephen Chow Sing Chi movie. Perhaps those behind it were more inspired by the success of Sandra Ng's spin-off movies from director Jeff Lau with Operation Pink Squad and its absolutely zany sequel, also known as Thunder Cops. Either way, The Inspector Wears Skirts 3 ramps up the madness seen in its predecessors and proves to be a lot of fun!

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In a nutshell, Raid On Royal Casino Marine sees the since abandoned Skirts squad, also known as the Banshee squad, brought back together for one more mission. But with Madame Wu now retired since marrying Officer Kan, it's left up to the henpecked husband to train the all female commandos. The intent is to send them on an undercover mission that involves an international gambling contest on a ship, attended by many well known criminals. Naturally, this mission isn't going to go as smoothly as Officer Kan thinks it will, resulting in many crazy moments, shoot outs, and fights with a team of robbers who have taken over the ship. Written by Lee Man Choi – in what would be his third feature after The Inspector Wears Skirts 2 and Fatal Termination – this chapter sees a departure from Golden Harvest studios and Jackie Chan as executive producer. That said, his presence is definitely still felt throughout with the continued appearances and action work of his stunt team members. This time, the film is produced under the Samico Films banner – the same production house that delivered Andy Lau's Proud & Confident, Running Mate, The Spooky Family, Crazy Safari, Fight Back To School, God Of Gamblers 3: Back To Shanghai, the Casino Tycoon movies, and Forbidden City Cop.

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Produced by Sammo Hung Stunt Team regular Billy Chan – brother to the late Peter Chan Lung and film legend in his own right with roles in over 70 films, choreographer in as many, and no less than 16 directional efforts behind him including New Mr. Vampire, License To Steal, Crazy Safari, Mad Mad Ghost, All Men Are Brothers: Blood Of The Leopard, and White Storm with Danny Lee – the film also sees the action scenes cranked up courtesy of fellow stunt team member and fan favourite, Ka Lee, sometimes known by then nickname of Curry. After joining Sammo in the late 1970s, Lee would spend most of his career working alongside the legend and gaining the credit of assistant director on films such as Mr. Vampire and Mr. Vampire 3, as well as the very fun and underrated Sammo Hung flick, Where's Officer Tuba? But Lee would also take that knowledge further and worked as the action-choreographer on films such as Into The Fire, The Ultimate Vampire, Shogun In Little Kitchen, and Yuen Biao's directional debut, A Kid From Tibet, among others. Here, Ka Lee delivers some fun and violent quick fire fights through-out, leading to a fantastic showdown on the ship that sees bullets, kicks, and punches traded in a grand finale that plays like a blend of hits such as God Of Gamblers, City Hunter, and Red Wolf, respectively.

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Much like the second film, The Inspector Wears Skirts 3 features more comedy than action, although definitely proves to be a much tidier production overall. A smaller cast of squad members on both sides possibly helps this, with the great Stanley Fung and Billy Lau returning as the only members of the Tiger Squad from before. Jackie Chan Stunt Team member Lee Jun Git cameos as his character of Peter from the first two movies, but only to help the wonderful Sandra Ng with her introduction before moving on. The always enjoyable Wu Fung replaces Bill Tung as the Chief Inspector, while Sibelle Hu spends the majority of the movie delivering comedic cameos until she joins the action for the final showdown. While her role is much smaller than before, she still delivers a very fun role with her Madame Wu proving to be a lot less serious than before and seemingly stress-free since her retirement. Having spent some time nursing her wounds inflicted from the fire stunt that went wrong in Tony Lou's Devil Hunters, Sibelle eased herself into 1990 with roles in Alexander Lo Rei's Taiwanese action-fantasy The Magic Amethyst, Bruce Le's Ghost Of The Fox, Teddy Robin Kwan's action-comedy To Spy With Love, and Chor Yuen's Sleazy Dizzy alongside Chow Sing Chi – returning to work under Tony Lou in The Dragon Fighter and Fire Phoenix before returning as Madame Wu.

 

Amy Yip and her heavily insured breasts also return, having already had a busy year with no less than 11 productions (including this) starring in films such as My Neighbours Are Phantoms, Ghostly Vixen (for Wellson Chin), Erotic Ghost Story, Look Out Officer, and Mortuary Blues, as well as starring alongside Hu in To Spy With Love. The amazing Kara Hui continues to play her psychotic character of May – underused once again but still getting the chance to show her martial skills. As with those before her, Hui had a busy enough year with films such as Bullet To Survive, Braveful Police, Widow Warriors, Stage Door Johnny, and Never Say Regret among others, and was probably glad of not having to do more here as which is understandable. The lovely Yip San joins the team, possibly replacing Regina Kent with her similar looks, although shows she can pack more of a punch and especially when provoked after people point out her potent body-odour. San had previously appeared in films like Tragic Hero, Long Arm Of The Law 2, The Iceman Cometh, and Police Story 2 where she starred as one of Jackie's tough-women police squad. Although her film career was short, Yip San went onto star in a host of films through to 1994 including a cameo role in The Inspector Wears Skirts 4. And of course, the aforementioned Sandra Ng proves that she is the real star of the show with her hilarious comedy timing. Since appearing in The Inspector Wears Skirts 2, Sandra managed to star in an incredible 21 other films in-between from They Came To Rob Hong Kong to Operation Pink Squad 2, The Spooky Family to She Shoots Straight, and Vampire Settle On Police Camp to the smash hit All For The Winner which clearly inspired her hilarious performance here!

 

In the bad corner the great Michael Chow, who previously played a member of the Tiger Squad, stars as the villainous captain of the ship. Having started in the Hong Kong film industry in 1986, the popular and handsome Canadian-Chinese actor appeared in films such as Inspector Chocolate, Police Story 2, Heart To Hearts, The Big Heat, City War, Miracles, and God Of Gamblers, before appearing here. Of course, he would go on to star in many more and is still acting today. He is backed by the late-great Shing Fui On; the legendary cinematic bad guy who clearly shamed everyone that year by making Raid On Royal Casino Marine only one of the 25 productions he would appear in throughout 1990. Many of these would see him star alongside a number of his co-stars from this particular film, which was an obvious achievement considering how much he was doing. They are joined by Korean martial arts actor Choe Jeong Il who gets to go toe-to-toe with most of the girls in the closing battle. Prior to this, Choe had just starred for director Wellson Chin in the very fun Prince Of The Sun and would return in the fourth and final chapter as a different character altogether. In between, he would battle the great Cynthia Khan in the wildly entertaining Super Lady Cop, and is always a joy to watch when in action. It's also worth keeping an eye out for stars such as Peter Chan, Manfred Wong, Barry Wong, and others who appear as gamblers on the ship in comedy cameos or bit-parts.

 

The first 40 minutes of the film sees Stanley Fung and his assistant Billy Lau putting the team through more harsh training, in order to ready them for a new mission. Avoiding the usual assault-course routines of Madame Wu, Fung trains the girls in torturous ways which involve re-enacting scenes from Drunken Master and taking the inspiration of electrocution from the harsh category 3 film, Men Behind The Sun (which is actually a ridiculously funny scene). While there is much more to be seen, the girls soon get their revenge on Fung with the help of Lau, delivering some genuinely hilarious and well done spoofs of A Nightmare On Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and A Chinese Ghost Story which proves to be highly memorable. And while it may not be perfect or please hardcore action fans of the genre, it would only be fair to say that The Inspector Wears Skirts 3: Raid On Royal Casino Marine offers plenty of laughs and some great action. Looking the best its ever done thanks to this restored release from 88 Films, the movie is a welcome addition to this series of Hong Kong Police Academy-style movies that still hold their charm over 30 years later!

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Overall: Genuinely funny with some enjoyable action scenes, The Inspector Wears Skirts 3 has a lot to offer and is worth checking out!

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88 Films Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng, Deleted Scene, Trailer

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Get your copy HERE

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Watch my unboxing video for this 88 Film's release HERE