Outside the Law (2002)

You won't be disappointed!

Fresh and Exciting

Absolutely Fantastic

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Cynthia Rothrock continues to plod a path through Z-grade material in OUTSIDE THE LAW, an entirely redundant B-movie in terms of originality or on-screen excitement. The only notable thing about this is that it was shot in Puerto Rico, which must have been fun for the cast and crew, but sadly that exotic experience doesn't translate into fun for the viewers at home.Rothrock plays a disgruntled former secret agent trying to turn her back on her old life. However, she soon gets involved with various hoodlums, and is forced to rely on her fighting skills in order to survive. I don't mind bad stories in action vehicles for stars like this, but I do demand quality fight scenes. Sadly, they're very badly filmed here, choppy and poorly edited throughout, and it's obvious that Rothrock was being doubled half the time.Even worse, Rothrock's acting isn't too hot, and she's saddled with the stupidest-looking wig for most of the running time. Fellow martial artist Jeff Wincott also appears in a non-fighting role - what's the point of that? - alongside the familiar faces of Stephen Macht (THE MONSTER SQUAD), Brad Greenquist (PET SEMATARY), and Don Harvey (DIE HARD 2).

I liked this so much, I bought it. Definitely not an 'A' movie, but Cynthia Rothrock and Seamus Dever (Army Wives) make it worth watching. Dever is excellent in everything I've seen, and I think Rothrock is a good actress as well as martial arts / kick-boxing star and both are very good in this. The fight choreography is nice to watch and well executed. I personally like 'one person can take on City Hall' movies and 'don't give up when the odds are against you' movies. This is both. Very inspiring. When I first saw this, from the ending, I expected some agent was working on putting together a deal for a TV series. I still think they should have done a pilot / series about where this character goes from here as she is driving out of town. It's perfect, she helps people while on the run (The Fugitive, The Pretender).

Even at the age of 45, Cynthia Rothrock is a superb martial artist, but "Outside The Law" / "Never Say Die" is a mediocre vehicle for her. The plot is completely uninteresting, and the scattered fight scenes don't compensate for that, because a) they are mostly shot in too-tight close-ups, b) the editing is choppy, c) the villains don't offer much of a challenge to Cynthia. Only James Lew is introduced as a worthy opponent, but even their fight scene at the end of the movie is not as long as it should have been. There is an amusing nod to Rothrock's Hong Kong film past ("You can read Chinese?", her friend asks her - "Enough to order from a menu", she responds). Sidenote: when an action film starts with a couple discussing how many kids (and pets) they will have when they get married, you know one of them is not going to be around for long. (**)

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsMartial arts star Cynthia Rothrock enters suddenly and unexpectedly back into our lives with this standard chunk of DTV action fodder.As a Grade-D action flick,it serves it's purpose well.The plot is a little wavey and disjointed,but Rothrock is the driving force of the show.She's not just a great martial artist,but she ain't a BAD actress either,and both these assets are in equal abundance throughout.***