Righting Wrongs (1986)

That was an excellent one.

Simply Perfect

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I'm a big fan of the kind of action film that came out of Hong Kong in the 1980s: this was the decade where Jackie Chan was at his very best, in terms of stunts, action and directing, and Sammo Hung made all of his best films as director. Mention must also be made of Yuen Biao, though, who often joined up with both Chan and Hung to contribute some very good action to these kung fu flicks. Occasionally, Biao got the chance to go it alone, as he does here playing a Charles Bronson-style prosecutor who, tired of seeing criminals getting away scot free time after time, decides to take the law into his own hands. The resultant film is an action-packed spectacle, very much along the lines of the IN THE LINE OF DUTY films and just as enjoyable.Of course, the story is slim and very predictable, and there are plenty of unbelievable things going on. There's a huge sub-plot involving a cop named Bad Egg, who's played by choreographer Corey Yuen. This is played entirely for laughs, focusing on the cop's slobbish nature, and the humour is definitely for those with acquired tastes. Nevertheless ABOVE THE LAW, as a whole, is good entertainment. There's the usual mix of GREAT martial arts sequences, along with a nifty set-piece involving crashing cars in a multi-storey car park.Yuen Biao adopts the heroic mantle very well indeed, proving himself more than a match for the likes of Jackie and Sammo. He's ably supported by a fantastic cast of Hong Kong greats, too. Cynthia Rothrock's on hand as a tough imported cop, kicking ass with the best of them. Melvin Wong pops up in a rare villainous role and doesn't he do well! I'm used to see him in straight, non-martial arts roles like his turn in BEWITCHED, but he gets to play a tough bad guy here and his fighting's excellent – he really convinces. Roy Chiao pops up as a lenient judge, much like he did in DRAGONS FOREVER, and an almost unrecognisable teenage Fan Siu-Wong is a young innocent caught up in the crimes – Fan later bulked up to tackle the lead role in infamous gore flick THE STORY OF RICKY! Great action is dotted throughout the movie. There's a memorable showdown between Biao and US kickboxing champion Peter Cunningham, and he really puts our hero through his paces. Rothrock gets to tackle another female fighter in a great, extended fight, as well as tackling Biao himself in another good bit. The best, though, is inevitably saved for the climax, an extended bout in a warehouse which doesn't disappoint, and then there's a James Bond-style bit on an aeroplane which makes for a nice change (I haven't seen anything like this in any other Hong Kong film of the 1980s). Weirdly, the film has two alternate endings. One's the original, downbeat version which takes nihilism to a new level, while the other is a lighter, more predictable conclusion. I have to say I prefer the original! Either way, this film's got a harder edge than most, and there are some really vicious murders going on – it's definitely not for kids, despite the bumbling comedy found elsewhere.

I just got that new Dragon Dynasty version of the film, though I'd never seen it before last night. Haven't watched any of the extras yet, though from what I've read here this is the "downbeat" Cantonese cut of the film. I must admit I'm disappointed in the film, though can still justify a decent score. I really liked Yuen Biao as well as the lead villain. I just realized that Bad Egg was played by the director, haha. The film had some big laughs, perhaps occasionally unintentional, but also some great action.There were a lot of problems with the editing and stunt-work though. I know they make these movies fast and for not much money, but this one seemed cut together more carelessly than most. Also, despite how talented all the stunt people and the leads are in the film's action scenes, there were way too many moments where I saw wires or could clearly see the faces of stunt-doubles. Especially for Rothrock. Sometimes they'd put makeup on the guy. And one of the doubles for her looked like Biao himself. I know you can never be perfect with such things, but it was just much more obvious than in many other films of the genre that I've seen.On sort of a side note, you ever notice the ramp effect with vehicles in action movies? The most common example would be of a speedboat hitting the low end of another boat and rocketing through the air. You occasionally see this with cars too. Here in Above the Law a.k.a. Righting Wrongs, you see it with a car chasing down Yuen Biao going off of a parked car. Of course the car is in front of a railing up high on a multi-level parking garage. And I don't know my models but it's probably a Mitsubishi since they made it into EVERY Hong Kong action movie in the 80s. But the parked car wasn't particularly low to the ground. The moving car didn't hit any objects to lift it's front end up. It just jumps the other like a ramp. I don't know if this is really a complaint. It was odd, but hysterical.If we're talking recommendations and I have to exclude anything with Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, or Jet Li, I'd recommend any of the first four In the Line of Duty movies over this. But it's still a decent action movie and any fan of Yuen Biao in particular really needs to see it.

Cynthia Rothrock is a phenomenal martial-arts dynamo (although in some scenes she is stupidly replaced by a male stunt man), and Yuen Biao is....well, Yuen Biao, if you've seen him in even one Jackie Chan movie you already know what he can do. The sheer action involving these two almost redeems the rest of the movie. ALMOST. As film-making, it's sloppy and confusing and just plain bad. Plus, the downbeat ending leaves a bad taste in your mouth and kills any fun the viewer might have had until then. (**)

I loved this movie! Yuen Biao, who attended Chinese Opera school with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, totally rules this movie! He has incredible martial arts skills and uses them to the max in this action-packed movie. Yeah, sure the plot and acting leave a bit to be desired, but for us martial arts fans we've come to accept the sub-standard acting in lieu of the awesome action sequences. Cynthia Rothrock adds an extra dimension to the film with her excellent fighting abilities. She is certainly able to keep up with Yuen's antics and from what I've heard, she really enjoyed making this film, (one of her earliest). I definitely encourage people to see this one for the action alone. Rating 8.5/10