Righting Wrongs (1986)

AKA: Above the Law

Literally: Enforce the Law Vanguard

Director: Corey Yuen Kwai

Producer: Leonard Ho Koon-Cheung

Action Director: Corey Yuen Kwai

Cast: Yuen Biao, Cynthia Rothrock, Melvin Wong Kam-Sum, Roy Chiao (Kiu Wang), Wu Ma, Karen Shephard, Peter Cunningham, James Tien Chun

Running Time: 100 min.

Plot: Yuen is a mild-mannered prosecutor who takes the law into his own hands, when the justice system fails to capture the most notorious criminals. As the police assigns a tough, gutsy inspector (Rothrock) to stop Yuen's vigilante hunting out of court, another murder brings them together in the search for the real killer, who may or may not be one of their own!

NUMSKULL'S REVIEW: I...

I don't know what to say.

Did you know...

DID, YOU, KNOW that the legal system protects the guilty, rather than the innocent? That it allows criminals to escape the consequences of their actions due to some trifling little thing called "lack of evidence", rather than condemning them based on the testimony of a smelly old bum who washed the windshield of somebody whose next-door neighbor is good friends with a girl whose boyfriend thinks he saw them breaking the law? That it writes murderers, rapists, and thieves a ticket to roam the streets with impunity, rather than locking them up in a dank little 10'x12' cell with a 300 lb. convict named Tiny whose favorite game is "Pack the Fudge"?

It's true, my friends. Sad but true.

This movie changed me, oh yes it did. I used to be foolish and naive. I used to believe that Bill Clinton dropped bombs on Iraq when he did to protect our national interests and not to draw the public's attention away from his affair with Monica Lewinsky. I used to believe that O.J. Simpson was innocent of any wrongdoing and that he was tracking down the real killer by searching every golf course in the country. I used to believe that Britney Spears was so successful because she has tremendous musical talent and not because some corporate executive reached the brilliant conclusion that millions of zit-faced teenage males with their hands permanently wrapped around their penises like to ogle girls with big tits.

But no more.

NO

MORE!

I have seen the light. I have seen the world for the sham it really is.

And I owe it all to this movie.

Here, let me tell you about it.

Yuen Biao is a prosecutor who doesn't like it when criminals slip through the cracks in the justice system ("justice", indeed! Hmph!). Cynthia Rothrock is a cop who doesn't like it when guys like our boy Yuen take the law into their own hands. So when he starts dishing out HIS law to a group of murderous drug lords and the uppity Cynthia gets assigned to the case, sparks fly, people die and plans go awry. There's impressive fighting, a high body count, an eye-popping stunt finale, and a plot that's a little more complex than you may have come to expect from mid '80s HK action films.

Mind you, that complexity isn't always a good thing. While not devoid of cool surprises and some involving non-action scenes, Righting Wrongs is laughably overwritten in some ways and bafflingly underwritten in others. The diatribes about the true effectiveness of the Law (always capitalized) and the relative advisability, or lack thereof, of taking it into your own hands just eat up the time and trigger a "Well, DUH!" reaction from the viewer. At the same time, the movie suffers from a couple of really big-ass plot holes...but so what. Too much chatter gets in the way of the ass-kicking, and that is one respect in which Righting Wrongs is beyond reproach.

The fight scenes are all good, and they're well spaced-out throughout the film. Yuen and Cynthia have a great outing against each other but, sadly, don't do any team-up fighting. Also noteworthy is Cynthia's duel with Karen Shephard. Interesting to see two Caucasian women given such a great showcase for their talents in a Hong Kong movie. A stunt double is used for some of Cynthia's spots, but this isn't as big a problem as it was in YES MADAM, another Corey Yuen flick in which she appeared (check out her miraculous color-changing hair in the chandelier bit).

The climax has a great bout between Yuen Biao and Melvin Wong, who I think makes a pretty good villain. It's followed by one of the most impressive stunts I've yet seen, since we all know that HK movies from the 1980s don't use computer effects to fill in for real people.

(SPOILER ALERT: skip this paragraph if you don't want to find out what happens at the end.) Ah, that ending...what a kick in the nuts. Yes, I know there are TWO endings, and I'm actually talking about both of them. In the original, everybody dies. In the revised one, Cynthia lives but looks ready for eight weeks of physical therapy, and Yuen gets fucked over by the system he once served (although there's no question that he brazenly violated the law...oops, I mean the Law...no matter how justified his actions were). I think a synthesis of the two endings would have worked best of all; I would have had Cynthia survive (but only just), and had Yuen sacrifice himself in his kamikaze-like quest to bring down the bad guy. If the audience finds it "too shocking", I say fuck 'em.

It's a very good action movie...maybe a little too harsh for some, but such is life. If nothing else, it proves that Yuen Biao is capable of carrying the lead role instead of playing second or third fiddle to Sammo Hung and/or Jackie Chan. RW is well deserving of a recommendation.

And now, if you'll excuse me, there are some wrongs that need righting.

Britney Spears, I'm comin' for YOU (no, not THAT kind of comin').

NUMSKULL'S RATING: 8/10

PERKELE'S REVIEW: If you like them 80's modern times martial arts action flicks a'la "Dragons Forever", then this is the one for you! The plot is simple, storytelling is uneven but the fighting is fast-paced and powerful. Yuen Biao is great as always, doing some very impressive flipping and kicking. Rothrock, though I never personally liked her, also has a couple spectacular fight scenes, most notably the great duel with Karen Shephard. Surprisingly the comedy scenes (most involving director Yuen Kuai and Wu Ma as a son and a father) aren't too bad either.

If you can, get the HK version. I've only seen that version but everybody's saying that it's far superior to the dubbed international print. The HK version is one of the most pessimistic movies I've seen in my life. More good guys are killed that in your avarage Chang Cheh movie! EVERYBODY dies! The ending is bloody mervelous [they changed it for the international version, because the audience was too shocked]. <SPOILER WARNING HERE> First, we get to see a huge screw pushed through Cynthia Rothrock's neck. Then the main bad guy steals an airplane and tries to escape but of course Yuen Biao makes it on the plane too. During the fight they loose the control of the plane and it crashes and explodes. Fortunately, Yuen Biao managed to jump from the plane. And lands safely in the water below? No, the plane was flying too high and when he hits the water surface, he dies. The last picture is a shot of Yuen Biao's body floating in the water, then the movie ends. Cool? I liked it.

PERKELE'S RATING: 7.5/10

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S REVIEW:

The Good: Like "Royal Warriors", "Righting Wrongs" is a great-paced Hong Kong film with guts. Filled with Corey Yuen's amazing choreography and some jaw-dropping action sequences, this is Yuen Biao's answer to "Police Story". Also starring Cynthia Rothrock, who never looked better kicking serious ass on-screen. "Righting Wrongs" is more violent than your average Hong Kong action-film and features many unexpected fatalities from beginning to end.

The Bad: Despite the great choreography, "Righting Wrongs" suffers from poor editing during most of it's action shots. I can't even count how many body doubles were so obviously spotted. For instance, there is an awful closeup of a male body double for Cynthia Rothrock with BLACK hair and dark skin - For some reason, they have him standing-in for a scene that involves a simple kick over a table!? It's ironic, considering the fact that just seconds before this, Cynthia was flying all over the place.

Bottom Line: RWs features all the ingredients that make Hong Kong cinema so tasty.

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S RATING: 8/10