She Shoots Straight with License to Steal

She Shoots Straight with License to Steal

She Shoots Straight 
Joyce Godenzi (Sammo Hung’s real-life wife) plays a police officer who skips the pleasures of her new marriage to take on a team of Vietnamese criminals led by frequent Hung collaborator Yuen Wah. When they target her husband, she goes out for revenge with action par excellence. An alumnus of the Peking Opera troupe “Seven Little Fortunes” that started the careers of Hung, Wah, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Biao, director Corey Yuen masterfully choreographs action into a ballet of frightful stunts and a symphony of bullets. Hung not only produced the film but shows up in a minor role. 

License to Steal 
A master thief with catlike agility ends up behind bars when her partner-in-crime sister betrays her to collect all their loot. Once she’s out of prison, she’s out for vengeance as her sister enjoys the spoils of the heist gone wrong. What seems like the melodramatic premise to a straight-to-video caper is elevated to pure comic delirium culminating in an unforgettable duel. Long unavailable on any home media or streaming platform, License to Steal is evidence that even when Hung isn’t the director or star, his jovial spirit guides the work he produces. 

She Shoots Straight 
DIRECTED BY: Corey Yuen. WRITTEN BY: Yeun Kai-Chi, Barry Wong. WITH: Joyce Godenzi, Carina Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Yuen Wah. 1990. 87 min. Hong Kong. Color. Cantonese. Not Rated. 35mm. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
License to Steal 
DIRECTED BY: Billy Chan. WRITTEN BY: Johnny Lee. WITH: Joyce Godenzi, Agnes Aurelio, Yuen Biao, Richard Ng. 1990. 90 min. Hong Kong. Color. Cantonese. Not Rated. 35mm.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation. 
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