Weak direct-to-video martial arts action film is a dumb story about a couple of undercover cops, Chad McQueen and Cynthia Rothrock, taking on evil smuggler and martial arts expert, David Carradine. With the exception of Rothrock, who first made her mark on the martial arts world as a world champion and later as an actress in some now classic Hong Kong martial arts action flicks, working with the likes of Michelle Yeoh and Corey Yuen, becoming one of the few western performers to find stardom in the Asian film market. Rothrock is far and away the best martial artist on screen here and is far more interesting to see fight than McQueen or Carradine, although Carradine is the best actor of the bunch, chewing up the scenery and nearly stealing all of his scenes. There's also a fair amount of familiar Asian character actors, such as Professor Toru Tanaka, which does add to the fun, but generally speaking this is a pretty weak martial arts action flick and a rather inauspicious debut for Rothrock into the American film market. You're better off sticking with her Hong Kong films like "Yes, Madam!" or "Righting Wrongs."
Review of Martial Law
