Filmic Friday 304: Martial Law (1990)

In Which This Is Not The TV Show of The Same Name

Once upon a time, martial arts movies were all the rage. Van Dam, Carradine, Chan, and Segal were kings of action and karate chops, but there was another.

No, not Chad McQueen (though he is in this movie and is, ostensibly, the star).

Cynthia.
Freakin.
Rothrock.

She was the queen of action movies, a five-discipline master (Tang Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do, Wushu, and Eagle Claw, Northern Shaolin and Pai Lum Tao Kung Fu), and a fellow teeny-rager (she's 5'3", the same height as me!).

And she ruled the 1990s.

Heck, if you like video games, specifically Mortal Kombat, she's the inspiration for Sonya Blade!!!

So of course I've watched some of her movies.

Most recently, I saw Martial Law, a 1990s vehicle for Rothrock, David Carradine, and Chad McQueen (who, yes, he's Steve McQueen's son).

Oof. He doesn't even get billing on the cover of this copy?
He's literally the main character!

Martial Law is a very silly story about Chad's character, Sean Thompson. Sean is a cop whose brother (played by Andy McCutcheon) has fallen in with some very bad dudes (David Carradine). His girlfriend, Billie Blake (Rothrock) is also a cop who helps him take down the villains and is also really hot.

Sounds like a pretty generic story, right?

Okay, but get this - the whole movie is insane.

We open with a hostage situation. Chad McQueen shows up as a Dominos delivery guy. He delivers the hostage-takers a pizza at the request of the cops, and once they decide to be rude and stiff him, he beats them down with marital arts. There's a quick quip about another success for "Marital Law" (cue that one Family Guy meme...) and we get our credit sequence.

Crazy, right? Not crazy enough for you?

Okay, how about this:

David Carradine is basically playing Bill from Kill Bill, running an evil dojo to train people to steal things for him or kill people for him. He's a mob boss, and if you fail him, he kills you. He runs guns, steals cars, and I'm sure there are drugs involved, too, because it's the 1990s. It's... also a shockingly clean movie, though. Because despite having women in it, no one gets raped. Which is... really unusual for a 90s action movie with boobs.

Actually, since it's Rothrock, she basically gets to run the show when it comes to how her body is used.

That being said, I really, really wish I hadn't seen Chad McQueen mostly naked and fooling around with Cynthia Rothrock.

But I digress.

This movie is bonkers. Yes, there are long scenes you won't care about where they're just... talking to people. Yes, the brother is obnoxious and feels kinda pointless. Yes, there are multiple double-crosses, but...

The movie never gets tired. You just go from scene to scene, with a tiny bit of filler between the silly action sequences, and eventually, you realize that it's over, but it feels like it just began!

Also... there's a pro-wrestler involved.

Yes, you heard right. One of the big goons for the guy who wants cars from Carradine is played by Professor Toru Tanaka! It's great to see Toru having a great time, and he plays well off of Carradine.

Carradine, for his part, is having a blast playing a Bond Villain type of bad guy, and it really is fun to watch him revel in his badness. He's been drinking recently, you can tell, but! He seems to be relatively sober on-set, and that just makes it more fun.

As for Chad... well... he's a Chad. He's trying, and his acting skills aren't abysmal, but he's not his dad, and he's not an action movie star. He seems like he'd be pretty decent in some smaller dramatic roles, working his way up to stardom, but he was given the starring role based on his last name alone.

Don't let me make you think this movie isn't amazing, though.

It's awesome, and you should check it out!

Go Enjoy Something!
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