Zhi fa xian feng aka Righting Wrongs aka Above the Law (1986)

I thought it was high time I did one of Cynthia Rothrock's Hong Kong films-- it was just a matter of finding one! Righting Wrongs was one I'd been meaning to do for a long time, and as it happened, a buddy got the Dragon Dynasty DVD, and let me borrow it. Mr. Kenner at Movies in the Attic also reviewed this as part of his Cynthia Rothrock Binge, but his copy was entitled Above the Law.

Righting Wrongs is a Corey Yuen directed feature that has Biao Yuen as a prosecutor who is fed up with criminals getting off on technicalities (that sounds bad, doesn't it?), so he takes the law into his own hands. Cynthia Rothrock is a police detective called in to investigate the murder of a criminal that Biao killed. When they bump into each other at another criminal's death-- one Biao didn't do-- they find they are at cross purposes, though they have similar goals. What will they do when it's revealed that Rothrock's superior is that criminal's killer?



This is excellent stuff. It's pure Hong Kong, directed by Hong Kong master Corey Yuen, so we're talking fight scenes with the volume turned up to 11, and the knob ripped off and tossed into an exploding microwave. Also, this had some humor in it, and then did a weird thing, where it suddenly wasn't funny anymore. To be honest, I don't even know if it worked or not as a plot device, because the action was so great, it didn't matter. I guess it was a little weird, but not too weird. No, this one got it right, totally.

For strictly US fans of Rothrock's work, her Hong Kong films are very different. I personally like both the late 80s/early 90s Hong Kong action, and the DTV action from the same time period, but I can see why people would watch something like this, and think none of Rothrock's US efforts matched it in quality. She really brings it in some great fight scenes, especially one at the end with Karen Sheperd, who has a cameo just so she can do that fight. If all you've seen of Rothrock is her US DTV work, then you haven't really seen her.



The bad guy in this had something of a Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind quality. Maybe it was the 'stash, or the hair, or the way he carried himself. When he had that enormous corkscrew against Rothrock's neck, he should've been like "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." I wonder what Clark Gable would've thought of this film. Would he have liked the soundtrack that sounded like an instrumental version of Bonnie Tyler's "I Need a Hero"? That brings up another issue though, about whether or not he'd have liked Footloose. My favorite scene in Righting Wrongs came when Biao tried to throw the cops staking him out off the trail, so he stuffs an apple on the tailpipe, then dumps paint or something on their windshield. That was hilarious! Imagine me laughing hysterically at that, and Clark Gable sitting next to me on the couch.

Biao Yuen is awesome. That he's not better known over here is our fault, not his. This guy is as balls to the wall as any other Hong Kong action leads you can name. In Righting Wrongs, he is all over the place, repelling down buildings, hanging off of planes, jumping over cars, and getting involved in tons of too sweet fight scenes. All in a day's work. Biao Yuen: man.



I decided to go out of my element a bit here, and watch this one dubbed, the way I used to watch Hong Kong films 15-20 years ago. It brought back lots of memories, and I think ultimately was the better way to go, just because it added an extra level of fun. In the end, no matter how serious one of these movies might get, it's all about how much fun we have watching them, and anything that adds to that is a bonus.

You can buy this on Amazon, but it's a little steep, so you make the call. I don't think you'd be disappointed, especially with the Dragon Dynasty transfer. I have no idea why it's out of print, but it is, so it's something we have to deal with. Hopefully that'll change eventually.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094374/