Martial Law II: Undercover

Imagine a world wherein direct-to-video movies could be good on purpose; wherein the cast, director, and producers actually made an effort to match Hollywood; and wherein performers who had never been seen on theater screens matched the big-name action heroes of the day. Whether I'm romanticizing things or if such a time really existed is a matter of opinion, but it's plain fact that MARTIAL LAW II is a very good low budget martial arts feature, able to match the offerings that Van Damme, Seagal, and Norris were putting out at the time and still good nowadays.

The story: The star police team of Sean Thompson (Jeff Wincott) and Billie Blake (Cynthia Rothrock) is broken up just as an ambitious lord of the underworld (Paul Johansson) rises to prominence, killing a policeman in the process. The two will have to reunite undercover to unearth the crime and expose it with their lives intact.

At the time of this one's release, the only performer who was properly established in the action genre was Cynthia Rothrock, but surprisingly, this isn't really her vehicle. She gets her share of the action, but Jeff Wincott - making his action movie debut - is the one who really takes the helm in driving the story, showing excellent poise as both a legitimate leading man and an action hero. He's supplemented by a minor super group of performers also on their way to becoming B-movie dragons: in addition to Johannson as the lead villain, there's Evan Lurie, Leo Lee, and James Lew as respectively awesome henchmen and Billy Drago as a conflicted police captain forced to go straight. Nobody's really pressured into heavy acting, but I daresay everyone performs - physically and dramatically - to the best of their ability and to the extent their roles allow them.

The fight content really shines. Be warned, Hong Kong fans, none of it is overly flashy or terribly acrobatic - it's just good, solid western martial arts action with an emphasis on kicks and minimal gunfighting. It's hard to believe that this is the first karate film Jeff Wincott ever did, considering his proficiency in varied disciplines, including forms and weapons handling; his scene with his trademark batons is particularly vicious. A few of Cynthia Rothrock's fights seem like filler despite her stellar forms, but she's afforded at least one standout battle at the end with the ever-worthy James Lew. Evan Lurie gives possibly the best martial performance of his career when he takes on two huge bodyguards in a handicap match and gets to show off just how tough he really is. Of the 'round eight or nine fights, few of them are standout material on their own but, in a rare feat, manage to come together to create a fulfilling tapestry of hand-to-hand action.

The film's production values are deserving of praise as well. All too many times when I watch a modern DTV movie, I get the impression that the filmmakers or the studio are discouraged from presenting quality production on account of their movie's relatively low distribution. MARTIAL LAW II, on the other hand, seems to have been made with the mindset that, specifically because it wasn't bound for a theatrical release, it had to try all the harder to impress viewers with its good-as-Hollywood presentation. Even the VHS cover looks like it could belong to a theatrical movie. Therein, like most action films from this era, it's a bit superficial, but what were you expecting? The story's interesting enough to keep you interested as you await the next randori and the whole package is attractive enough to interest even viewers who haven't been weaned off of the big budget productions yet. Why this one hasn't gotten a Region 1 DVD release yet is beyond me.

Cynthia Rothrock and Jeff Wincott are the dual leads, cops who are martial arts experts. They investigate a shady night club run by more martial arts experts. Guess what? The standard high kicking actioner. Who needs guns or backup. The major disappointment is that the climatic fight between the two female karate fighters consists of one kick. Blink and you'll miss it. It's easy to see why there wasn't a Martial Law 3, but I watched martial arts films far worst then this. This is strictly a made in America effort.

The plot is nothing new (police corruption, a crime syndicate that uses a night club as a front, a cop investigating the death of his partner, etc.) but the fight scenes range from good to very good (the best one might be an illegal 2-on-1 that doesn't involve any of the leads). Maybe they can't match up to the best that Hong Kong has to offer, but they are choreographed in a way that showcases the fighters' power, speed and technique. My two main disappointments with this film are: 1) as already reported by another reviewer, VERY short final fight between Cynthia Rothrock and the female bodyguard (what a bummer!), and 2) no arch-villain role for the master of such roles, Billy Drago (he's just a corrupted police chief). (**)

I can't claim that I was overly impressed with the 1990 predecessor titled "Martial Law", but I still opted to sit down and watch the 1991 sequel "Martial Law II: Undercover", as it was a movie that I had actually never watched before.

Writers Richard Brandes, Pierre David and Jiles Fitzgerald managed to put together a storyline that was a bit more enjoyable here in this sequel. Though it is still not top notch action entertainment. The movie does have that early 1990s cheese to it. But hey, if you enjoy that kind, then director Kurt Anderson does deliver something for you with "Martial Law II: Undercover".

"Martial Law II: Undercover" is a continuation with the characters Billie Blake (played by Cynthia Rothrock) and Det. Sean Thompson (played by Jeff Wincott in this movie), so that was a nice enough thing with the tie-in to the previous movie. "Martial Law II: Undercover" also have the likes of Billy Drago and Paul Johansson on the cast list, so there are some familiar faces here at least.

The acting performances in "Martial Law II: Undercover" were adequate, though you're obviously not in for an evening of Shakespearian theater here.

The action and martial sequences in the movie were nice enough, taking into consideration the production and type of movie that "Martial Law II: Undercover" is.

My rating of "Martial Law II: Undercover" lands on a five out of ten stars.

This was a good movie.

The story is nothing new i.e. dirty cops, gang, team of cops taking the problem on.

The music was nice and reminded me of the 1980s action movies even though this movie was made in 1992.

The cast was decent and everyone did what they were supposed to. In these type of action flicks the acting is minimum and the music and action take over.

The fashion (needs a comment) was terrible' as it looked like something from the miid-1980s. Not even Chuck Norris action films from the 80s looked that old.

They could of turned this into a martial arts sequel. It's a shame they don't make movies this straight forward anymore.

Thankgod for Movies4Men channel on my sky!