Born to Fight

A sequel to Above The Law (Righting Wrongs) by name only, and mainly for the Western market, this insane movie is a completely different kind of film that trades the serious action, thriller, for the non-stop action, comedy.

And that's not a bad thing.

Unfortunately though, this sequel tends to lack the production values, and directorial efforts of the first – going through a collection of directors, and hairstyles (which is slightly entertaining) but keeping the same hard-knock fight scenes which we all know and love.

In fact, Rothrock claims to this day that her favourite movie that shows her fighting best, is Blonde Fury (Above The Law 2). And, that's possibly quite true!

Whereas Righting Wrongs was Yuen Biao's time to shine, Blonde Fury is all about the Roth! She actually looks like she is having a great time, which comes across quite well in her character.

Cynthia is aided by ex-boyfriend Meng Hoi, and the fantastic Chin Sui Hoi (brother to the amazing Chin Kar Lok), who both get to show their own skills throughout the show, battling bad guy superstars Billy Chow and Chung Fat, along with a host of other (very hurt looking) stunt-men.

Definitely crazy, often hilarious, and continuously action packed, this gem of a mess is pure entertainment from start to finish!

Enjoy!

Cynthia Rothrock is Cindy, an FBI agent sent undercover in Hong Kong to crack a counterfeiting ring. She pretends to be a reporter to bag the bad guy, but runs afoul of a mousy rival reporter (Mang Hoi), a cop disguised as an insurance agent (Chin Siu-Ho), and various kung-fu baddies (including Billy Chow). She also incurs the ire of the local cops, and even her pal Yu (Elizabeth Lee), who thought she was just a buddy and not an undercover law enforcer. However, all manufactured conflicts are derailed when Yu's dad (Roy Chiao), the prosecuting lawyer in the counterfeiting case, gets kidnapped. Fighting and mayhem ensues.

A couple of entertaining action sequences, such as on some bamboo scaffolding, as well as a short brawl between Rothrock and Billy Chow, are the main attraction in this fairly decent HK entry, though the pace can meander halfway and it is steeped with too much talk. This is a rare moment where Cynthia Rothrock has a starring role in a HK production and she pulls it off with ease. She has some charm, a presence and a sense of energy but it's her fighting that is really a highlight. Not remarkable, but passable.

Blonde Fury is a pure, undiluted action movie, taking a thin plot and spicing it up with some easy to appreciate comedy and some kick ass action choreography. I think it's the only movie I've seen that was fully directed by one of my favourite action directors, Mang Hoi. He's the guy primarily responsible for the action in ROYAL WARRIORS and MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS, which feature some of my absolute favourite fight scenes. He brings with him quite the cast of fighters and stuntmen, and a few other respected HK actors to fill out the cast. The script puts Cynthia Rothrock undercover and on the case of some nasty counterfeiters, who have an unequal-opportunities employment scheme which dictates that all their employees be top martial artists. Bad for Cynthia, cool for us. The choreography is of that brutal late 80's HK style, where cast and stuntmen get crashed and smashed into anything on set for our entertainment. Fast, inventive, intricate and with a lot of genuine skill on display.

It's actually quite a good story too, in truth - overall implausible, but it all seems to kind of make sense when you're watching it, and there are some good characters. Cynthia herself is actually quite charming here, though that might be due to a particularly charismatic voice actress on the Mandarin dub track more than her natural charisma.

Not a complicated movie, but a greatly entertaining one - and a must see for anybody who needs a good fix of action HK golden age style!

It seems that the last three movies I've watched recently - "Guardian Angel" (1996), "New Killers in Town", and this one - have followed pretty much the same pattern: they're terrible, but contain some good fight scenes that are worth seeing. "Blonde Fury", one of Cynthia Rothrock's last Hong Kong vehicles, is almost unwatchable - I struggled to get through it. But Cynthia shows some great moves and makes clever use of her surroundings in about 5 or 6 fight scenes. The highlight comes in the middle, when she takes on a guy with particularly powerful kicks, following a pretty good Chin Siu Ho vs. Billy Chow fight. Martial arts fans are advised to keep their finger on the fast-forward button; non - martial arts fans are advised to avoid this film altogether. (**)

P.S: No wonder Elizabeth Lee was runner-up of Miss Hong Kong 1987. She's freaking gorgeous!

When your film opens on shots of 80s New York playing to the tune of not quite Crockett's Theme by Jan Hammer, you know the filmmakers were cooking.

Blonde Fury aka Lady Reporter has the unique distinction of being the first and only time a Western actress has ever had lead billing in a Hong Kong film, with Cynthia Rothrock turning in a fun and charismatic performance to boot. Blending the hard-hitting style of Corey Yuen and the graceful acrobatic choreography of Mang Hoi into a movie that's tremendous fun but sloppily put together. The story is way too convoluted for its own good supported by way too many characters, although the performances from its cast are deliciously hammy in particular Roy Chiao and Ronny Yu, they just lobbied with some pretty awful dialogue. Despite its issues, Blonde Fury hits that sweet spot of the 80s and 90s Hong Kong cinema, taking the very rough with the very smooth, not all the comedic beats land but the punches certainly do.