Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 08/30/2005 Summary: Hard to watch “I want you to catch the psycho killer.” With these unmemorable words Melvin Wong sets a very dull movie in motion. When otherwise capable actors are given a badly written script and static direction they will go with the path of least resistance—they will stand around and deliver lousy lines. There is a difference between acting and reciting lines and there is very little acting here. About half of “Beauty Investigators” is taken up this way. There are some decent but not outstanding action scenes, especially, of course, the fights between Yukari Oshima and Moon Lee but much of the movie is on the level of “Is it over yet?”. Gam Chi Gei can neither act nor fight so she fits in quite well. As comic relief she is unfunny and her death scene is boring rather than tragic. I saw the dubbed Cat III version with Sophia Crawford’s not very sexy shower scene—it is nothing more than a naked actress standing in the shower with the water on for a about 20 seconds. She is obviously toned and fit with significant gluteal development. This is referred to later in the movie when Billy Ching says that the boss’s mistress is a white girl with a big ass. “Beauty Investigators” never gets off the ground. It has a mystery that gets accidentally solved with 30 minutes still to run, a villain who is more uncouth than frightening, dumb cops and dumber crooks. There is one car/motorcycle chase that is worth watching—in Hong Kong cars blow up when they crash, unlike in the United States where the cars in the movies don’t blow up until someone shoots at them. Several decent action/fight scenes plus a few that are so dark that you can’t tell if anyone is winning or losing. A very well played assassin whose weapons of choice are the poison dart and the garrote—she is actually not very good with firearms. While I love the girls with guns, fatal femmes sub-genre, especially those that pit two worthy female opponents against each other, this one is most definitely NOT recommended, even for fans of Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima. It is a great example of why god gave us a fast forward button. Reviewer Score: 2

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 12/01/2002 Summary: Cheesy Low budget dumb & cheesy action movie from the girls with guns stable. It's a shame that Moon Lee & Yukari Oshima arrived just a little too late for that particular genre, and were consigned to these crappy productions. Both deserved better careers. Yukari steals the show here IMO, even though she has much less screen time than Moon. Beauty Investigator features a plot of some description, but I think it's best to just fast forward to the action scenes, which are pretty good. Nothing particularly wild or new, but decent action scenes are becoming such a rare commodity these days that I'm learning to treasure whatever I can get from Hong Kong's past. Oh, yes... the CAT III rating is for a completely gratuitous and mostly unpleasant nude shower scene from Sophia Crawford. That girl seems alarmingly fond of getting naked on camera!

Reviewed by: CaptainAmerica Date: 06/06/2002 Summary: Moon and Yukari, together again! It's unfortunate that Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima partnered up in only several films (from the classic ANGEL to ANGEL TERMINATORS 2), because if they had done more films together (and higher-quality productions) they would be as well-revered in cult circles as the three-handers of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. As things stand, though, both ladies have enough of a following for both their partnerships and their solo efforts. BEAUTY INVESTIGATOR shows why: in spite of some glaring shortcomings, Moon and Yukari electrify the screen, especially when together. Two bumbling HK detectives (Moon Lee and Kim Je Xee) are assigned undercover duty to a nightclub where a murdered hostess worked. As they investigate, they stumble on relatively-bigger fish: the club is owned by an ambitious and reckless triad leader (Chui Jing Yat) who wants to take over all the HK gunrunning action...he just double-crossed the Yakuza, and he's just hired a Japanese hitwoman (Yukari Oshima) to execute any and all potential rivals! What should have been an otherwise-tense action movie gets bogged down, unfortunately, by dumb writing...the filmmakers decided to give a lot of screen time to Moon and Kim's mismatched cops. This wouldn't have been a problem if the material was honestly funny; on the whole, though, it isn't! Some scenes between Moon and Kim will make you honestly look at your watch waiting for the tedium to be over. Nothing against them as actresses, of course (Kim is capable, and Moon proved once and for all how funny she is in THE NOCTURNAL DEMON), but the fault lies to lousy writing. Proof of this is a huge last-minute plot twist that harkens back to HARD BOILED, but unfortunately is only given lip service and does nothing for the story in general. The real reason to watch this film (the chief reason anyone watches any Moon/Yukari film) is for the action, and thankfully there's a lot of it! There's gun-fu, kung fu, and quite a few high-style slayings by Yukari's hitwoman character. And yes, Moon and Yukari fight each other twice...but all this comes before the explosive finale, where circumstances have Moon and Yukari team together to take on the deadly gunrunner and his equally-proficient mistress (Sophia Crawford)! Billy Chow also shows up for the climax, but his appearance is cinematically short-lived. I recommend this film for the action, but not for the comedy. Note: this movie is available through Tai Seng Video, and the English Dubbed version features a gratuitous shower scene where we see Sophia Crawford in all her glory. (As far as I know, this is the only version of the film where you'll find this scene!)

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 04/05/2002 Moon Lee and Kim Chi Gei play a pair of bumbling cops who are given one last chance by their beleagured boss (Melvin Wong). They must go undercover in a hostess club and track down a "psycho killer" who likes to kill club girls. It turns out the boss of the club (Billy Ching, along with his mistress Sophia Crawford) is a major arms dealer who just screwed over the Yakuza (led by Billy Chow). Smelling a big case, Moon and Kim being to investigate Ching, during which they encounter a vicious Japanese bodyguard (Yukari Oshima) and the secret beind the psycho killer. Beauty Investigator felt like it could have been a much better movie, but it wastes way too much time with just plain dumb comedy. I'm a fan of dopey humor if it's done right, but the stuff in Beauty Investigator just gets ridiculous at times and undermines the more serious parts of the film. Thankfully, the action here is done well. It's nothing extraordinary, but it's done better than your average low-budget action flick. And this is about as low-budget as they come -- Moon's secret weapon to use against Billy Ching is a very cheap looking wrist missle launcher which looks like it shoots out bottle rockets. But when the gadgets are put aside, the fights in Beauty Investigator are good, if a bit short. Of particular note are a couple of brawls between Moon and Yukari, as well as a brutal matchup between Yukari and Sophia Crawford. This isn't a classic of the girls-with-guns genre, but it's a good way to kill ninety minutes, especially if you are a fan of Moon Lee or Yukari Oshima. [review from www.hkfilm.net]

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 12/03/2001 Summary: Silly Fighting Fems I'm a little puzzled as to why this film is somewhat despised, even by FF (Fighting Fems) fans. Sure, the plot is extremely silly and even brainless, but this does not distinguish it from many other Moon/Yukari spectaculars. Though perhaps a bit lighter on action than some others of this sub-genre, there's still some decent kicking. The support cast is a fu-talented lot, and they don't disappoint. There's bad stuff, of course. Casting soft-porn and non-fu actress Kim Chi Gee as Moon's partner (not Yukari - she plays an assassin) is a puzzling choice, to say the least. And the acting is pretty awful but, again, this is no different from many other actioners. Perhaps seeing the leading characters pose as nightclub hostesses (and not very well) might trouble some of the fans. I thought it was every bit as lame-brained as other bits of the story, and so what ? btw, some copies of this movie bear a Category III sticker. Don't be fooled ! This is a standard Cat II actioner with no nudity and just one very discreet sex scene. Below average, but okay if you're bored. Reviewer Score: 3

Reviewed by: hkfilmjunkie Date: 08/01/2001 Summary: Moon Lee in yet another typical role for her Moon Lee stars as yet another nightclub girl who fights yet another female hit-woman in yet another girls with guns flick.One of her worst in my opinion.