Second verse, same as the first. The Inspector Wears Skirts 2 reunites members of the Banshee Squad from the first film with four new recruits, most notably Susanna, played by the iconic and profoundly endowed Category III star Amy Yip. Madam Wu (Sibelle Hu) is in charge of training the girls, and hijinks naturally ensue.

Like the first, there’s a dance number in the middle of the film that serves as the most energetic bit of the story. Unlike the first, there isn’t much in the way of over-the-top action set-pieces, in part due to the exodus of Cynthia Rothrock (who bookended the slapstick story of that first chapter). Here, Rothrock’s presence is replaced by constant jokes about Yip’s breasts. I can jest that this is an even trade, but honestly, it isn’t, and the movie suffers from being wholly comedic through and through.

Perhaps that’s a “me” problem, though: Although I’m generally a fan of Hong Kong’s golden decades (roughly between the 1970s and mid-1990s), I’ve never connected as well with the movies that lean harder into comedy. It’s possibly why much of Jackie Chan’s output never reaches the upper echelons of my appreciation. The Inspector films were choreographed by Chan’s teams, and you can feel the same type of physical comedy at play. That isn’t necessarily the issue, however; it’s the “battle of the sexes” stuff that I have trouble with, given that it usually ends up falling into patterns of people ripping on women’s appearances or stereotypical attributes. It gets old quite fast!

I was curious as to why 88 Films is releasing its restorations of all four Inspector films in 4K UHD in separate collector’s editions rather than presenting them in a box set similar to their best-of-the-year In the Line of Duty I-IV package from last year. I’ve read that rights issues for just one of the films is purportedly the reason. Frankly, I think it’s a little bit of a shame. 88 Films does phenomenal work on its Hong Kong releases, but I think this series probably works best taken together as an archival set, representing a certain time and style. Individually, they don’t hold up but perhaps they’d be a more enjoyable sit as a series.

SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Double-walled O-Ring featuring new artwork by Sean Longmore
  • Double-sided foldout poster featuring new and classic poster art
  • 2K remaster from the original negatives presented in high-definition (1080p) Blu-ray in 1.85:1 aspect ratio
  • Original Cantonese Mono with English subtitles
  • English Mono dub
  • New audio commentary by Frank Djeng
  • Leading the Top Squad, a new featurette including an Interview with director Wellson Chin
  • A new interview with stuntman Go Shut Fung
  • A new interview with stuntman Mars
  • Hong Kong trailer
  • Stills gallery
  • Reversible cover with new artwork by Sean Longmore and original HK poster art