Ahh the eighties. Bad hair, shoulder pads and lame background music in movies.
Thats what seemed to stand out like crazy when I sat back and watched Righting Wrongs last night. That, combined with some crazy but cool action which makes all of those things very much forgivable!
This movie starts off with a bang – a judge and a prosecutor named Hsia Ling-Cheng (Yuen Biao) are discussing all things law when a bad guy quite poorly sneaks up to kill the judge, that’s when our man Ling-Cheng steps in and the all out action introduction begins with a car chase.
After our man has finished with these villains, we meet his family just in time to witness their murder, which seems to have been committed by an evil, brainwashed Eddie Murphy look alike.
Fed up with the law failing to punish those who deserve it, Ling Cheng and his Judge friend have a nice little discussion about how they’d like to handle things. Naturally, Ling Cheng decides that that’s the way for him and heads on out to kill crime lords and murderers in his spare time.
But one crime lord in particular, played by James Tien, has caught Ling Cheng’s sights but is killed before he can arrive on the scene and he is caught in the crime scene moments after the murder by a cop Cindy Si – who is played by Cynthia Rothrock.
Naturally Cindy does her best to arrest Ling Cheng yet they don’t realize that there was a young boy (a pre Riki-Oh Siu Wong Fan) who witnessed the whole murder.
From there you see fights, chases and explosions. The usual cop thing, just like in real life! (lol)
Another cool 80’s cop / kung fu flick!
This movie reminds me a lot of Line of Duty 4 with Donnie Yen. On the surface everything seems cheap and nasty, yet there’s a pretty cool story backed up by insane (however, slightly sped up) action which makes it pure entertainment.
Some things seemed a little rushed and not thought through. The initial chase scene has Yuen Biao charatcer run criminals off the road, he then blatantly murders them in broad daylight in front of other drivers – funny considering he is chased for ‘murdering’ another, more dangerous criminal he didn’t even kill.
I also found funny the murder of his family, as the corrupt police officer shows up and stares at the door like a complete freak before shooting up every adult in the room. Then he simply places a bomb and blows up the whole place. So why shoot them when you were just going to blow them up anyway? I found this all pretty funny, and it all adds to that cheap eighties feel I mentioned earlier.
Ultimately though, the movie twists and turns quite frequently and unfolds incredibly well. things between Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock’s character change throughout the movie and we see many key players die, one after another. So you’re left uncertain how things will play out.
It is a serious movie that touches on the law being unable to protect the innocent and punish those who break the law. With corruption being the key to success and cops like those played Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock being the poor suckers who try to fix everything.
The Action & Martial Arts
The action is fantastic. Both the two main characters know Kung Fu but guess what? So does every other crim and street thug! That makes life tough!
It seems that every crim caught by Cindy or Ling Cheng shape up like a Kung Fu expert and they duel it out in a viciously fast fight filled with tremendous acrobatic ability. It’s so damn cool to watch!
When you’ve got a seasoned Martial arts actor like Yuen Biao as the lead, backed up by the (then) up and coming Cynthia Rothrock you can expect some kick ass fights. Including some cool girl on girl action (I mean fighting guys).
I had to laugh at some of the stunts – especially the plane take off. We see Yuen Biao hanging onto a plane and about to jump onto some rope whilst it speeds up the run way. Cutaway – he jumps for the rope yet the ground isn’t moving, cut back and the plan is moving full speed! Pretty weak but great for a small laugh.
The balance between hilarious weakspots and awesome martial arts choreography just makes this a fun film not to be taken too seriously.
Overall?
An action packed, slightly cheesy but ultimately awesome Kung Fu cop film! Check it out for sure, I loved it! but expect a few shortcomings and just have a laugh.
On Blu Ray –
Region A (US & Canada)
Righting Wrongs Blu-Ray (English Subtitled) Yuen Biao
On DVD –
Region 1 (US & Canada)
Above the Law
Loved this movie! Yuen Biao whoops ass as does Cynthia Rothrock in that mall fight I wish Hong Kong still made movies like this.
A lot of these 80’s crime/kung fu films are just awesome! I know what you mean, the time has passed but they we such an awesome part of martial arts movie history. Need to find more 🙂
So wonderfull kicks
Yuen Biao is the man!