Film

The Inspector Wears Skirts

Name: The Inspector Wears Skirts
Genre: Action, Comedy
Released: 1988
Cast: Cynthia Rothrock, Sibelle Hu Hui-Chung, Kara Wai Ying-hung, Sandra Ng Kwan-yu, Ann Bridgewater

Police procedural

A 1988 Hong Kong action-comedy about female police officers navigating sexism, personal drama, and actual criminals. It's energetic and unpretentious: part buddy comedy, part crime procedural, wholly committed to the bit. For anyone who loves action films that don't take themselves seriously and want to see women actually kicking ass on screen.

TMDb rating

3.1

If you liked this

Police Story1985

Jackie Chan's template for action-comedy: relentless stunt work, slapstick energy, real stakes. It's fun and dangerous-feeling at once, which is exactly what makes it work.

But The plot is thin, the dubbing occasionally grating, and some of the comedy lands better if you're in the mood for it to be silly.

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins1985

An American action-comedy with a similar lightness of touch and willingness to be ridiculous. Fred Ward and Joel Grey have real chemistry, and the stunts are genuinely clever.

But The tone wobbles between serious and cartoonish. It hasn't aged as gracefully as the Hong Kong work it sits alongside.

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins poster

The Golden Child1986

Eddie Murphy as a wise-cracking action hero before that became tiresome. The film itself is sloppy fun—part martial arts film, part buddy cop, part fantasy adventure.

But It's visibly a product of the 1980s, which cuts both ways. The plot doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Inspector Wears Skirts

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain1983

Both are Hong Kong cinema at its most uninterested in Western genre constraints. The Inspector Wears Skirts is grounded and funny; Zu is operatic and wild. But they're both films that trust the audience to have fun without explanation.

Tsui Hark's baroque action-fantasy is visual maximalism: flying swordsmen, colour-drenched sets, logic that doesn't matter because beauty is the point. It's a world away from the police-procedural frame of The Inspector Wears Skirts, but it shares the same fearless, inventive energy about what action cinema can do.

But It's deliberately surreal and doesn't resolve things neatly. The tone is pure aesthetic pleasure, which can feel airless if you want narrative momentum.

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain poster

Mr. Vampire1985

Ricky Lam's vampire-comedy with acrobatic action sequences and genuine ingenuity in how it stages fights. Funny and inventive in equal measure, from a director who understood both registers.

But The premise is wonky and takes time to settle. Subtitles required, and the humour is specifically 1980s Hong Kong.

Kung Fu Hustle2004

Stephen Chow's love letter to old Hong Kong action films: visually inventive, absurdly funny, and genuinely excited about martial arts. It captures that same energy about people who don't fit the mould.

But It's so referential that some jokes land harder if you know the films it's riffing on. The CGI action, while stylish, is different from the practical work you'll see in The Inspector Wears Skirts.

Yes, Madam!1985

Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock (who's also in your film) doing actual martial arts opposite each other. It's sharper than The Inspector Wears Skirts and meaner, but it's the same world.

But It's tougher and less comedic, so if you're drawn to the fun of The Inspector Wears Skirts, this might feel grimmer than you want.

Hard Target1993

John Woo's first American film: stylised action, dark comedy, Lance Henriksen being deliciously wrong. It's proof that action films can be visually witty without being silly.

But It's grislier and more violent than what you'll see in The Inspector Wears Skirts. The tone is nastier overall.

Rapid Fire1992

Brandon Lee as a martial artist cop in a film that's half action, half comedy, wholly enthusiastic. It's briskly paced and doesn't outstay its welcome.

But The script is thin and the dramatic bits don't land. It works best if you're watching for the action and the charm, not the story.

Black Widow1987

Debra Winger and Theresa Russell in a spy-thriller that's actually tense. It proves you can make an action film with real stakes and female leads without winking at the camera.

But It's genuinely serious, so if you're here for the comedy-action mix, this will feel heavy by comparison.

Lethal Weapon 31992

Both films understand that the action is the joke and the friendship is the plot. Where The Inspector Wears Skirts finds humour in misfit cops, Lethal Weapon finds it in refusing to grow up. Different registers, same instinct.

The point where action-comedy became a negotiated form in mainstream Hollywood. Danny Glover and Mel Gibson have genuine friendship on screen, the stunts escalate beautifully, and it's joyful in a way its sequels forgot how to be.

But It's very much a 1990s Hollywood action film—slick, overstuffed, occasionally grating. If you're here for the grittier, more playful 1980s Hong Kong vibe, this will feel like a step toward something blander.

Lamb2015

Where The Inspector Wears Skirts uses action and humour to show women as capable and real, Lamb uses quietness to do the same. Both films care genuinely about their characters' inner lives. One shouts it; one whispers it. But the caring is identical.

An Icelandic film where two lonely people find each other and stop being lonely. It's quiet, strange, deeply felt. Watching it feels like being let in on a secret. Completely different in every surface way from The Inspector Wears Skirts, but it has the same thing: characters you believe in immediately.

But It's a slow, meditative film about emotional damage. If you want action and comedy, this is the opposite thing. It's beautiful and it's sad.