Lackey and the Lady Tiger is a kung fu comedy designed to push Mars, a mainstay in Jackie Chan's stunt team, into the spotlight and hopefully leading role status. He plays a hapless restaurant worker whose constant mishaps get him fired from his thankless job. He meets a young rascal (Tien Niu) who he mistakes for a boy and gets a taste of her kung fu in a brief scuffle. She then bails him out of a fight with local thugs and promises to teach him her style. In actuality, she is being taught at the same time by her grandfather (Sek Kin) and realizes her limitations when Mars asks to learn the Fisherman's Staff style. Stumbling across the master, Mars learns directly from the source, and eventually challenges a local martial arts master (Charlie Chan) whose students have been harassing him. The ultimate showdown comes when a former convict (Hwang Jang-Lee) is released from prison and comes back to exact revenge on the grandfather.

Surprisingly enough, Lackey and the Lady Tiger is a really solid movie. Mars is amazingly acrobatic and funny, and other than his less-than-average looks (by movie industry standards?), he easily handles the leading role. Tien Niu is also good in the parts where she is doing her own fights, but gets stunt-doubled a few times in more demanding scenes. Sek Kin is also still spry at age 67 in his role, handling action scenes with pretty decent believability. The real parts that shine are Mars' staff fights with Charlie Chan and his final boss duel with Hwang Jang-Lee. The staff choreography is some of the best you'll see in this genre, with wide shots and single takes of complicated sequences. It's a treat to watch, along with the excellent battle with Hwang that starts with a staff and ends with open hand shapes. Hwang's kicks are otherworldly as usual and deserve a second viewing to fully appreciate. After assisting on legendary films Drunken Master and Dance of the Drunk Mantis, first time director Norman Law does a fine job with the strong cast and utilizing choreographer Chan Siu-Pang's skills. A fun watch that should be more well-known.