Above the Law
by Corey Yuen
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cynthia Rothrock, Melvin Wong, Roy Chiao Hung, Wu Ma, Yuen BiaoDirector: Corey Yuen
Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Cantonese (Original Language); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-05-29
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Weinstein Company
Movie Reviews of Above the Law
Movie Review: Above Average: Biao, Rothrock, and Yuen
Summary: 3 Stars
As far as Cynthia Rothrock goes, "Above the Law" is the best film she ever appeared in, period. I cannot speak so certainly for Yuen Biao, but seeing as this movie earned him his most recent nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Action Choreography, I can't imagine it being one of his worst. Plainly, the film is an action spectacle that's sure to drop the jaws of all but the most weathered fans of Hong Kong cinema...but beyond that, it's not much of a movie. "Above the Law" personifies the stereotypical oriental film that focuses entirely on martial arts scenes but flat-lines dramatically in light of poor acting performances and some iffy technical issues. Fans of Biao, Rothrock, and director Corey Yuen ("The Transporter") should definitely pick it up, but new fans of Dragon Dynasty ought to start somewhere else.
Hsia Ling-Cheng (Biao, "Once Upon a Time in China") is a Hong Kong prosecutor who's become disgusted at how the law seems to always favor the criminal. In light of series of murders that leave key witnesses of a gangster trial dead, he takes justice into his own hands as a lethal vigilante...but hot on his heels is Cindy Si (Rothrock, "No Retreat, No Surrender 2"), a detective willing to fight violence with violence who believes him to be behind a gruesome underworld killing.
The plot (penned by Chuek-Hon Szeto and Barry Wong, "Mr. Vampire") sounds pretty straight-forward, but gets a bit more complicated and sophisticated than you'd expect the typical action storyline to be. In addition, Dragon Dynasty has done a good job with the DVD package: apart from remastering the video, three language tracks are included (the original Cantonese dubbing, a more recent and polished Cantonese version, and the original English dub), as well as insightful interviews with Yuen Biao, Cynthia Rothrock, and Peter Cunningham ("No Retreat, No Surrender") and an alternate ending reportedly filmed subsequent to production by audience demand.
The fighting, I must stress, really is first-rate and continues to top everything that's ever been produced this side of the Pacific. To name each encounter chronologically, there's Rothrock vs. four mahjong players who she ties up with one pair of cuffs, Biao vs. Rothrock in what may be the best fight of the movie and of Rothrock's career, Biao vs. Cunningham in a destructive brawl in the former's home, Rothrock vs. the underrated & underutilized Karen Shepard ("Cyborg 2"), Rothrock vs. a hangar full of weapon-wielding cronies, and Biao vs. Melvin Wong ("Heart of Dragon") which features Biao delivering the most impressive windmill kick I've ever seen. With the exception of a couple of blows that clearly don't connect and a few blatantly-obvious stunt doubles, each and every fight is a wonder to behold, with no weak offerings or even anybody particularly outdoing anybody else. Weapons, flips, and liberal use of the environment (walls, furniture, scaffolding, etc.) as a means of leverage make these encounters as cinematically appealing as they are technical genius. In addition, there are some pretty cool stunts involving Biao and cars.
At times, however, the pauses between the action seem a bit too long, especially if they're filled with the godawful dramatic exchanges between Siu-Wong Fon ("Riki-Oh") and Yuen Biao or the one between Biao and Rothrock in the hospital: mediocre acting skills are further offset by flowery dialogue that most western audiences will be unable to relate to and humor that only Hong Kong fans will understand. Almost the entire cast - including Biao and Rothrock, Siu-Wong, Wong, Cunningham, Corey Yuen as Rothrock's goofball partner, and Ma Wu ("A Chinese Ghost Story") as his father - are in trouble as thespians to an alarming extent, and look nothing short of mediocre when compared to the film's only acceptable performance-giver - Roy Chiao ("Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom") as the magistrate. Granted, drama is not the focus of action movies and shouldn't detract too much from overall quality, but seeing as the film relies on dramatics to a beyond-casual extent, it's a bit more damaging than it would usually be.
In short, "Above the Law" is awesome as an action feature but terrible as anything else. Those familiar with the work of Yuen Biao should feel free to watch it, but newcomers of just about everybody involved ought to make their first impression somewhere else.
Summary of Above the Law
(Martial Arts/Action) A tough-as-nails police inspector (Rothrock) tracks a vigilante killer and discovers a massive, deadly conspiracy.Action & Adventure DVD Video
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