Rating: ***
Review Date: 2/15/14
Cast: Etsuko Shiomi, Yasuaki Kurata, Mitchi Love
Basically a rehash of the first two films, and it even uses the exact same credits sequence as "Hanging By A Thread" (1974). Once again, Koryu (Etsuko Shiomi) has to leave Hong Kong and travel to Japan in order to save yet another friend who has been abducted by a criminal organization. This time the crooks are smuggling gold, and Koryu's friend has been coerced into being the villain's mistress. Again, Koryu is betrayed by a mutual friend and Yasuaki Kurata shows up as a bad-ass gangster with a hidden agenda. The sex, nudity, and violence have been toned down considerably and a child has been thrown into the mix, but there's still the obligatory scene at a strip club where Koryu is disguised as a flower girl. The film introduces another friend of Koryu's named Mitchi (Mitchi Love), who she met at a martial arts competition. She's a good fighter and it's fun to watch the two of them in action.
If you've seen the previous "Sister Street Fighter" films, this one is simply more of the same. Etsuko Shiomi's fight scenes are wonderful, and she is fast and furious. Thankfully, the camera work isn't nearly as shaky as the previous films, so you can actually see what's going on in the fight scenes. An unfortunate side effect of this is that it looks like Shiomi is pulling her punches towards the end of the film, which deflates some of the dramatic tension. It's a fun female action film, but the orphaned child angle makes for an odd and awkward ending.