Sworn to Justice

There is a weirdly innocent quality to this violent film about vigilante justice.

I really enjoyed Cynthia Rothrock in this role. This movie has everything! It's got the fight scenes, romance, goofy villans, courtroom drama, supernatural elements, some comedy, and a lot of bad hair.

No one is winning any awards for acting, and there's a real made for TV quality to the whole thing. I enjoyed the shifts between bubbly happy psychologist and killer vigilante though I'm not sure that was an intentional choice on behalf of the film makers. It definitely indicates that our protagonist is a complete sociopath, which I found entertaining, but again, can't be sure that was their intent.

This is widely regarded as Cynthia Rothrocks best American movie, from director Paul Maslak. I can also safely say that it is. Despite a ludicrous plot which has Cynthia developing psychic powers when he sister and nephew are brutally murdered, the film is fast paced, fun and filled with neatly choreographed action. Not to mention Rothrock in her sexiest role yet. The film is wildly inconsistent with a comical action scene when Rothrock foils a store robbery, complete with sill sound effects as large men are made fools of. Also a very steamy martial arts display in a skimpy negligee from the Queen of flying fists. What helps though is a good cast helping Rothrock, who also gives her best performance, although that does not say a lot! Also starring is Kurt McKinney known primarily from No Retreat No Surrender. Then there is good support from Oscar winner Brad Dourif and Mako.

The film has plenty of nice action and never gets boring while there is a good production value to this, especially compared to many other of Rothrock's movies. Standout scenes include the sexy Cynthia taking on several large men with some masking tape and defeating a warehouse full of bad guys. Cynthia is unbelievably sexy in this and the film overall stands out as one of her best achievements. ***

Cynthia Rothrock is very sexy in this action/revenge flick. She plays a psychologist that is the victim of a home invasion that left her sister and nephew dead. She ended up surviving the encounter due to her superior martial arts skills. There definitely is a lot of fighting and is quite action packed. The film is cheap and on the lower budget scale of things. The fight choreography is still pretty good and is better than similar movies with male action stars. If you are an action fan Sworn To Justice should certainly be good enough. There is nothing with this movie that really blew me away, but it's nice to see Cynthia Rothrock play a role that is erotic, but she still beats everyone up.

This movie probably is not as good as my review but Cynthia Rothrock is the the Queen of martial arts action women. She was ahead of her time and it is not her fault that many of her films were weak in script and cinematography. She has great screen presence and her fight choreography is terrific. This movie is from the heyday of "straight to VHS" martial arts movies that fueled a generation of martial arts movie fans. This American attempt to be more focused on plot and acting is effective. The supporting cast is good. The Direction and cinematography are solidly "B" but the fighting is great. If you are unfamiliar with Rothrock, this is a good place to start. If you are fan this is a great one to enjoy, or enjoy again.

Some of the reviews of this have been very harsh. Cynthia is one of the most qualified of any of the martial artists ever to act in movies. That statement includes the men and if you don't think this is true look it up. Her career has obviously changed over the years. Her best action movies were made in Hong Kong so check those out if you wish to see her at her peak. However her 1990s movies are more suited to her age with less action and more dialogue. I had to laugh when I saw one review which was critical of her figure. This is the only time I saw her strip off in a movie and she has an amazing figure. She is obviously very athletic and fit so I dont see the problem When you consider what Segal looks like these days and he is still churning out action movie it makes me wonder if these reviewers are also critical of male action movie actors? This is a typical action crime drama with some martial arts action, I wouldn't describe this as a martial arts flick, there's not enough of that kind of action. Cyntha plays a psychologist with ESP who walks in on a gang who have broken into her house and killed her family and you can guess the rest. As all these movies are basically revenge movies so you also know the endings etc. What is different from her usual movies is that there are a few very famous faces in the mix. There is also a love interest and likening said quite a lot of nudity which was surprising. The action scenes are what you would expect from a US production of this calibre and they are neither too violent or gory. It's a passable Cynthia movie and typical for her at this stage of her career and she has developed into more talking and less fighting roles. If you are happy enough watching Segals latest movies you should have no problems with this. I'm sure her fans will be happy enough and looking at her IMDb page she seems to be working well into her 60s. An average US low budget martial arts flick but likely above average for her dedicated fans.