Lady Whirlwind (4 Stars)

I watched "Lady Whirlwind" tonight, having watched "Hapkido" yesterday. They're both Angela Mao films from 1972, although "Lady Whirlwind" was actually made first. The two films are also connected by the fact that Angela Mao, Sammo Hung and Hwang In-shik learned hapkido (the fighting style) while making it, before going on to make "Hapkido" (the film).

I didn't enjoy "Lady Whirlwind" as much as "Hapkido". The biggest problem for me is the story. There's a lot of confusion surrounding Tien's search for Shih-Hao. We eventually learn that Shih-Hao had abandoned Tien's pregnant sister, but his explanation is simply that circumstances forced him to leave her. What those circumstances were is never properly explained. It seems likely that Tung Ku was involved, but the film leaves us to work that out for ourselves.

I'm also not sure why Tien goes to the casino looking for Shih-Hao. She seems to believe that the casino owner and Tung Ku are hiding him, but the film never makes it clear why she thinks this. It's the sort of thing that probably made sense to the filmmakers, but they're unable to explain it to the viewer.

Fortunately, the fight scenes are good enough to make up for the film's shortcomings. There's plenty of action and some excellent martial-arts choreography. Angela Mao is good, although her fighting skills aren't as prominently displayed as they are in "Hapkido". Hwang In-shik and Sammo Hung also add plenty to the action.

So "Lady Whirlwind" works better for me as a martial-arts film than as a story. The action makes it worth watching, but I found the plot much less satisfying than "Hapkido".