CITY COPS is a standard Hong Kong action vehicle for US star Cynthia Rothrock, made just before she returned to the States for the rest of her career. It's a low budget effort that's far below the likes of POLICE ASSASSINS in terms of quality, although it's not without merit for those who are fans of this girls-and-guns genre. The film was directed by Lau Kar-Wing, himself a noted martial artist and sometime actor.
This film's bog-standard plotting is the worst thing about it. It sees a trio of cops, including Rothrock's character, going after the Triads who have connections with Western and Japanese gangsters. There's something about the hunt for a stolen microfilm but for the most part this is content to amble along with some very dated comedy scenes which aren't a patch on those found in the more popular Hong Kong comedies.
Rothrock is an asset here but she's off screen for too long, especially in the middle section. However, I did enjoy seeing stock bad guy actor Shing Fui-On getting to play a heroic cop for a change, as he's very good at it too and a shame he was so typecast because of his face. Japanese actress Michiko Nishiwaki appears too, but only at the action climax. Speaking of which, there are some brief fights dotted throughout, but it's only at the violent warehouse climax that this film offers the kind of intense action that this genre is known for, with bullets spraying everywhere and participants squaring off for one-on-one bouts. It's good, but a little too little, too late.
This film's bog-standard plotting is the worst thing about it. It sees a trio of cops, including Rothrock's character, going after the Triads who have connections with Western and Japanese gangsters. There's something about the hunt for a stolen microfilm but for the most part this is content to amble along with some very dated comedy scenes which aren't a patch on those found in the more popular Hong Kong comedies.
Rothrock is an asset here but she's off screen for too long, especially in the middle section. However, I did enjoy seeing stock bad guy actor Shing Fui-On getting to play a heroic cop for a change, as he's very good at it too and a shame he was so typecast because of his face. Japanese actress Michiko Nishiwaki appears too, but only at the action climax. Speaking of which, there are some brief fights dotted throughout, but it's only at the violent warehouse climax that this film offers the kind of intense action that this genre is known for, with bullets spraying everywhere and participants squaring off for one-on-one bouts. It's good, but a little too little, too late.