Leis Marciais 2

There are plenty of low budget martial arts flicks in the world, many of which are total embarrassments. Thankfully, this is not one of them. Martial Law II has a plot that's simple enough to be believable but also has a few bits of creativity thrown in to make it distinguishable but not stupid. Furthermore, the actors do a good enough job with their roles to make the viewer suspend their disbelief and care about what's happening. And, of course, there's plenty of fighting throughout the movie to make it fun. It's not a great movie, but considering the limited amount of stories one can do with this genre of films, it's pretty unique and makes for an entertaining watch on a Saturday afternoon.

One of the finest things on the disc was the introduction by Rothrock herself. I don't remember seeing something like that which can be considered a special feature or extra nowadays on a DVD or Blu Ray. Not sure where this was shown (on TV on other videos as a sort of trailer kind of things? Who knows?), but it is a nice curiosity.

The sound effects on the fights are classic and even when this does not display the best of the movies of that era, it's still decent enough. The change in the male leading role really helped and Cynthia is on her A-Game too. Of course you can ask yourself, why is no one shooting guns, especially when they are being almost used by the villains ... but there we go.

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.

Steven Segal, pony tail and all, stepped onto the scene somewhere around 1990-ish with Above the Law. About a year or so later Martial Law 2:Undercover comes out ... and I have to tell you a movie with more pony tails has never been made.

But this is not to knock the movie. Trust me there is lots to knock in this movie (like how the biker gang from the opening sequence intended to transport the guns they were trying to purchase back to their homes).

No, I am not going to knock this movie. Why? Because I love this movie. It is over-the-top, well produced (seriously, Kurt Anderson -- the director-- has got some of the best performances out of the cast, good fights, a good look and good editing), comical (both on purpose and not-so-on purpose in scenes).

The replacement of Wincott for Chad McQueen's character from part one gets a better fighter in the male lead (and in my opinion a more diverse actor).

But what is it about this movie that really sets it apart, outside of all the hair and even a yawn by one actor in a scene. It is the acting by uncredited (both on IMDb and in the final credits) as Danny Borelli. I don't know why or how this guy did it, but he plays perhaps the best recovering alcoholic in film history ... well maybe second best to Ray Milland. Don't take my word for it, watch this movie. Watch the way the Borelli character continues to be engaged in conversations and scenes when he is doesn't have lines (yes I realize as an actor that is his job ... but come on, how many actors actually follow through with their jobs.

Charles Taylor is credited for playing Borelli as well as Dobbs, but Dobbs is the character that Borelli was following, and while they list Borelli's wife in the end credits of the film, I did not see the actors' name for Borelli listed ...

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!