At this point its clear that low-budget Hollywood directors had no clue how to showcase Cynthia Rothrock’s combat skills.
City Cops is one of the last Hong Kong films she starred in before transitioning to the North American low-budget / B-movie circuit. It’s indistinguishable from the boilerplate 80s HK female cop template: a female cop does better work than her male counterparts, but her superiors only see her as a cute liability… until she kicks some ass!
Even if a lot of the movie is boring (focusing on the male stars Kiu-Wai Miu, Ken Tong, Shing Fui-On), Cynthia Rothrock’s action scenes all but make up for it. They’re so fast paced and odds against her, that comparing this to Undefeatable or Martial Law is like comparing a Ferrari to a Prius.
However, viewing this particular version of the film was an awful experience. The dubbing was horrible. I could forgive the bad VHS transfer to 480p, but the dubbing alone is worth a point deduction. You can see that the tone and intonation of the actors is completely lost in translation. I predict a subtitled Cantonese version w/ a cleaned transfer would elevate the film to a C+, on par w/ Cynthia Rothrock’s other HK films (Righting Wrongs, Yes, Madam!).
Overall, are you looking for a “kung-fu flick” to watch with your family or friends? Try this one. You’ll feel like you’re back in your teenage years.
First screened October 1, 2023 on Tubi.
