Sworn to Justice

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.

I've Seen this movie recently and i must say i was really impressed with Cynthia's skills not only as a martial artist but her growing skill in acting.

Ok she might not be an A list star, but she surely deserves more credit

then people give her.The best bit about this movie is her acting which by far is her best work.I recommend this movie to all Cynthia fans and anyone who likes a good martial arts movie.

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.

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.

I've seen several of Cynthia Rothrock's films - both her Hong Kong and her American ones - and one thing they have in common is that her femininity is usually largely ignored: she is there mainly as a fighter, not as a woman (though sometimes the tight outfits she puts on leave little doubt about her physical attributes). But in "Sworn To Justice" she makes probably her boldest appearances ever: 2 lingerie scenes, 2 sex scenes. And truth be told, she is very sexy. She could work as a living ad for practicing martial arts - "you do it too, and you'll have a body like that when you're 40". This focus on Cynthia's body is not the only aspect that separates "Sworn To Justice" from most of her other vehicles: there is also a slapstick comedy fight sequence, psychic powers, a lesbian love confession at a tragic moment, and a bad guy discussing with his brother's burnt corpse! The fighting highlight of the film comes when Cynthia goes up against an acrobatic Asian guy - you can see her Hong Kong days living again in that scene. Disappointingly, the climactic fight scene goes to her male co-star, Kurt McKinney. The other problem is the plot, which has a few too many scattered sub-plots. But as I already said, if you want to see Cynthia Rothrock going sexy, this is your best chance. (**1/2)