Triple Cross (1990)

Good concept, poorly executed.

As Good As It Gets

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

In this highly entertaining and fast-paced Rothrock outing, Cynthia plays Nancy Bolan, the head of security at HTI. She is a courier and must deliver a top-secret computer. To cover her tracks, there are also two decoy computers. All three are in silver suitcases. While in Indonesia, Nancy develops a relationship with a little girl named Sarah and her mother.There is only one problem: BOLT, "The terrorist who strikes like lightning" also wants the computer. He is a ruthless and evil man with a lot of goons. 80 minutes of fight scenes ensue.Bolt closely resembles Sly Stallone and there are even references to two Stallone movies: In one scene Nancy calls him "Rambo" and in another scene he is inexplicably arm-wrestling another goon a la Over The Top (1987). Exactly why Bolt is supposed to be like Stallone and he is most evil baddie on the planet is not known. Bolt is also a master of disguise as will be revealed in a laugh-out-loud moment. Bolt employs a henchman named "Ty" and he looks like an Indonesian Mr. T., Complete with gold-chainses and mohawk."Angel Of Fury" is filled to the brim with action. Rothrock has some wicked and fun martial arts moves and there are a lot of high-kicking, high-jumping feats. Rothrock is utilized well and gets to showcase her skills in many different ways. The whole movie is Rothrock fighting in different settings. One in particular that stands out is in a mall and it brings to mind the scene in Jackie Chan's Police Story (1985).A movie highlight is when Nancy takes Sarah to an amusement park. After Sarah proclaims her love for "Mickey Mouse", she then proceeds to kick a guy in an over-sized rat costume in the butt repeatedly. With all that kicking, she might be able to become the next Rothrock. Too bad for the ratman.Funny, silly dialogue, Rothrock at her best, tons of action, and a little girl kicking a ratman in the butt...what more could you want? Released on the Imperial label on VHS, Angel Of Fury is a definite winner!For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Any action movie that contains threats of child molesting within its first 2 minutes cannot be all that good - and this one isn't. Cheap even by the standards of Cynthia Rothrock's straight-to-video vehicles, "Triple Cross" (the title of my copy; the IMDb cover is wrong, there is no Billy Drago in this one) is also particularly distasteful when it comes to the treatment of children: in addition to what I already mentioned, a little girl gets shot in the back - in slow motion. But what about the action scenes? For the most part, they are poorly shot. Cynthia does put in some effort and has a couple of brutal fights, but she is surrounded by a cast of nobodies and anonymous Indonesian extras. Where is Richard Norton when you need him? (*)

This is an early Rothrock feature that got chopped down and bit and released by Imperial to capitalize on her rising popularity in the US in the early 90s. One thing you can't complain about is the film being slowly paced. It is literally action scene after action scene with a few quick dialogue scenes thrown in for good measure. Rothrock, looking mighty fine, gets into tons of scuffles with the locals while trying to protect three cases carrying computers. While this isn't at the level of her Hong Kong work, the fights are fun and people do take some bumps. Fans of the cult films THE STABILIZER and THE INTRUDER (aka RAMBU) will notice star Peter O'Brian as the lead villain here.

Cynthia is totally hot in this, both looks-wise and with her martial arts skills. The fight scenes are adrenaline inducing. They are extremely well choreographed and some of the best I've seen anywhere. This movie could've put Cynthia on the mainstream map with the likes of Schwarzenegger and Stallone, except that the plot is confusing and stupid. However, being the sucker that I am for movies with dead-on kick butt action, I am willing to ignore the major non-plot flaw. You definitely need to check your brain in at the door with this one and just enjoy the ride of pure orgasmic violence. It is a rock 'em sock 'em roller-coaster! Get ahold of this- I command it!