Model By Day is so nearly perfect a women's revenge B-movie that it ought to be pre­served in the National Film Archives, right between Lady Terminator and Ms. 45. Only here, the targets are broader and the ammunition is humor instead of wanton violence. How else is one expected to take a black-belt supermodel (Famke Janssen), pack her into purple patent leather hot pants and bikini top, slap on Ray-Bans and a bicycle helmet, then shove her into the sleazy underworld of the Russian Mafia as superhero Lady X? (I didn't even know there was a Russian Mafia. What do they do, encase informants in cement Cossack boots and take them for a tractor ride?)

Toss in some revenge (her roommate was mugged and blinded), a philosophizing men­tor who speaks in Klingon proverbs, and a benign cop with a disarming smile to whom the phrase "dusting for prints" was apparently left out of his procedural manual, and you've got the makings of a great comic book flick. No surprise, as Model is based on a (now-defunct) comic book. The cast — which includes Sean Young as Janssen's manipulative boss, and Shannon Tweed in a unexpected cameo — play it straight and earnest, let­ting the sharp dry edge of satire shape their performances. (Including a swipe at the Basic Instinct interrogation scene.) Besides the mandatory "super-origin" and subsequent identity crisis, a few delightfully unexpected twists crop up, including Lady X's counterfeit dopple-ganger and her sudden alliance with a disgruntled hit man!

Model By Day punches not only the crooks, but all of the frivolous buttons one might expect in a production of this nature. Half a dozen modelling montages are handled with aplomb, while a constantly prowling camera delves into the eerie urban landscape for some rousing action sequences. Though neither Janssen, Tweed or Young expose more than an eyeful of midriff and thigh without the help of a body double, full frontal nudity receives frequent and delightfully gratuitous foreground exposure from the supporting female cast. (Speaking of montages, this is the only film in recent memory which has the chutzpah to actually dissolve right in the middle of the traditional boy-meets-girl dinner repartee and cut to the chase!)

Made for what probably totaled less than the craft service bill for Batman Returns, the film has a terrific look which belies its low-budget roots, and deserves an enthusiastic push on the unsuspecting retail audience, who may bypass the title because of a lackluster boxcover.