Guardian Angel (1994)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Sadly Over-hyped

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Cop Christine McKay (Rothrock) is hot on the trail of a counterfeiting ring and is working the case with her partner and fiancé Nick Taylor (Teague). Behind the operation are the criminals David (Miano) and the super-evil Nina Lindell (Denier). After some tragic events perpetrated by Nina, Christine gets kicked off the force and hits the skids. She ends up living in a trailer with her dog Flash, who she has conversations with about her life. But she vows revenge on the sinister Nina at any cost. Christine ends up taking a bodyguard job for a rich, cocky playboy named Lawton Hobbs (McVicar). Nina was his ex-girlfriend and so there's a personal stake there. Christine will have to use all her skill as a Martial Artist to get to the bottom of this tangled web. Can she do it? We really enjoyed this Rothrock vehicle. PM rarely disappoints, and with a team of PM mainstays both in front of and behind the camera, you really can't lose. Director Munchkin applies the same techniques with Rothrock as he did with Don the Dragon Wilson or Jeff Wincott in the past, and the result is an entertaining movie with plenty of shooting, chases (of the car, helicopter, boat and horse varieties), Martial Arts fights, and Cynthia Rothrock getting off some cute catch phrases after she beats up her assailants.Marshall Teague gets to show off his range - we hadn't seen him play the charming cop before this. We mainly know him as the evil dojo master/teacher from the great A Dangerous Place (1995). Robert Miano pops up constantly and we know him and love him, he does his standard good job. A nice surprise was Lydie Denier as the baddie-ess. She was cold, heartless, and dastardly, and a perfect enemy for Rothrock. Christine's Captain in the movie was female but looked and dressed a lot like David Coverdale. And while McVicar did a decent job as the Hugh Hefner-like lothario, we felt Bruce Campbell could have also played that part.Guardian Angel is also filled with amazingly 90's-looking people. Some of the fashions and hairstyles are pretty impressive and are worth seeing in their own right. Most of the fight/chase scenes have some wailin' electric guitar behind them which underlines the fact that PM knows its audience and wants to give them what they want to see: 80's/90's action in its most uncut form. We definitely applaud that. But this movie also has some comments about the battle of the sexes and some points of view which keep it from getting overly dumb. Plus, Lawton Hobbs (nice name) predates Muammar Qaddafi by many years in initiating the idea of a female bodyguard. Finally, we noticed in the credits that the fight choreographer was Richard Norton. Too bad he couldn't have appeared in the film, even if it was just a cameo.In the end, there's very little NOT to like about Guardian Angel. Cynthia Rothrock is one of our favorite action stars, and here she's backed up by a competent team. You gotta love it.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

"Guardian Angel" could possibly be the best of Cynthia Rothrock's early 90's low-budget American martial arts flicks, IF the whole movie was as good as its first half hour: during that time we get some dynamic fights, gunplay, a car chase, two car crashes, bad girls with guns, a tight plot, etc. But after Cynthia quits the police force and becomes a bodyguard, the film becomes repetitive and starts to drag. The absolutely gorgeous Lydie Denier (who really caught my eye in a couple of "Acapulco H.E.A.T" episodes I happened to watch) playing a truly evil bi*ch is a definite plus, but the lack of a proper showdown between her and Rothrock is a disappointment. The climax is a relatively large-scale speedboats-and-helicopter chase, but most of it appears to have been done by stunt doubles and is not very exciting. (**1/2)

this movie has a decent story in my opinion,very good fight scenes but i was a little bit disappointed by the end of the movie.i think that it was a way better if lydie denier knew karate also or if she knew to use some weapons,her character has become more interesting too and she was a decent opponent to cynthia.i think when the director filmed the final 'battle' between cynthia&denier he wanted to finish the movie earlier so he didn't care how the end was going to be.all in all i think that fans of cynthia rothrock will be very satisfied watching this movie.it's not like 'yes,madam'! or sworn to justice but it was entertainment enough and cynthia looks awesome in this movie so my rate for this movie is a solid 8/10

You see, a film like this can't be spoilt. Only enriched. It is so stupid you'll guess the plot after 5 seconds, and then you'll want something more. Well, if you want something more, concentrate on the plot holes etc etc. And the action holes. And the characters we have never seen before who are only in the damn film to get kicked in the head. And the way she kicks the innocent barman in the head in the bar(he was just pouring a drink dammit). And how she starts a gang war!! I thought she was the good guy! And the best bit is the mysterious scene with the brother with a twist in the plot. Except it is completely unrelated to anything. There must have been 1 writer who came up with a devious twist, then the director cut it out halfway through, probably because when he heard twist he was thinking about a twisting snap kick (which would have been to some character who was brought in for two minutes, the plot all became based on him, then he got kicked and died). Im rambling now, but this movie is gold for a laugh. see it now.