Leofwine_draca This cheapo sequel to the original MARTIAL LAW jettisons the star pairing of Chad McQueen and David Carradine and brings in straight-to-video action hulk Jeff Wincott instead. Thankfully, Cynthia Rothrock reprises her role from the first film, so at least there's one reason to watch.In any case, this is below average for a cheap '90s straight-to-video action offering. The fights are unspectacular and often staged in the dark, and the acting is very poor. Rothrock is the best thing in it, but I didn't go much for the evil-looking Wincott, who feels more like a shoe-in for a villainous role rather than the hero. Billy Drago is welcome in the part of a cop, but is given limited screen time, and overall there are few reasons to watch - even for fans of this particular genre of film.

Comeuppance Reviews Cops Sean "Martial Law" Thompson (Wincott) and Billie Blake (Rothrock) are back in this sequel which is a quantum leap ahead of its lackluster predecessor.When one of their fellow officers ends up dead, the trail leads to a popular nightclub run by the smarmy Spencer Hamilton (Johansson). His muscle includes meathead Tanner (Lurie) and other sidekick Bree (Rose). To get closer to the truth, Billie goes undercover as a bartender. Naturally, all manner of illegal doings are emanating from the club, not least of which is high-stakes, underground Punchfighting. But why is Captain Krantz (Drago) so touchy about this subject? It's now up to Sean and Billie to take out the trash.As stated earlier, this installment in the Martial Law trilogy is far superior to Martial Law one. The colors are brighter, it has a more professional sheen to it, and not only do the main stars Wincott and Rothrock really shine, it has a solid supporting cast featuring Billy Drago, Evan Lurie, Sherrie Rose, Max Thayer and Nicholas Hill in a small role.The decision to replace Chad McQueen with Jeff Wincott was an inspired choice. Wincott is a lot more charming, and has Martial Arts skill to spare, and we just love his energetic style. As in the follow-up to this film, Mission of Justice, Wincott gets to do some stick-fighting along with his traditional vigorous style. Seeing as he resembles - in this film at least - Matthew McConaughey, rather than being a laid-back "surfer dude" who's just livin' life, he's breaking the arms and knee joints of baddies.Evan Lurie, Slash Gallagher himself, lumbers into view in an extra-meatheady performance. He has strange speech patterns in this movie. He sounds like Stallone on half speed. But his clothing choices are pretty...well...choice. It's odd seeing Billy Drago as a police captain, as he looks like an emaciated gargoyle, but you'll see why he was cast in the role. Hopefully these descriptions don't come off as too crass, we love these actors and we've seen them so many times, they're like our friends.But the main reason to watch Martial Law 2 are its quality fight scenes. It has the fights you want from the stars you like. That could almost be a tagline. Wincott and Rothrock get off some great moves, and what's cool about their scenes, is that you can see they are really doing the moves - as you all know, the way to see if a actor/Martial Artist is genuine is to see how many moves they do without a cut. For example, in some of the best Shaw Brothers movies, there are anywhere from 8-12 or more moves with no cut and it's extremely impressive. Wincott and Rothrock can also achieve this level of prowess, and it's a lot of fun to watch.And while there is a lack of Wincott in the middle of the film, and it would have been nice to see a much longer fight scene between Rothrock and Sherrie Rose, this is a classic early-90's "abandoned warehouse" actioner with a lot to offer.NOTE: Fascinatingly, there is an introduction on the U.S. VHS tape with Cynthia Rothrock advertising some of her movies. That's a really cool feature on the tape.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

Bill Selleck This was a good movie.The story is nothing new i.e. dirty cops, gang, team of cops taking the problem on.The music was nice and reminded me of the 1980s action movies even though this movie was made in 1992.The cast was decent and everyone did what they were supposed to. In these type of action flicks the acting is minimum and the music and action take over.The fashion (needs a comment) was terrible' as it looked like something from the miid-1980s. Not even Chuck Norris action films from the 80s looked that old. They could of turned this into a martial arts sequel. It's a shame they don't make movies this straight forward anymore. Thankgod for Movies4Men channel on my sky!

Kelleyscope Steven Segal, pony tail and all, stepped onto the scene somewhere around 1990-ish with Above the Law. About a year or so later Martial Law 2:Undercover comes out ... and I have to tell you a movie with more pony tails has never been made.But this is not to knock the movie. Trust me there is lots to knock in this movie (like how the biker gang from the opening sequence intended to transport the guns they were trying to purchase back to their homes).No, I am not going to knock this movie. Why? Because I love this movie. It is over-the-top, well produced (seriously, Kurt Anderson -- the director-- has got some of the best performances out of the cast, good fights, a good look and good editing), comical (both on purpose and not-so-on purpose in scenes).The replacement of Wincott for Chad McQueen's character from part one gets a better fighter in the male lead (and in my opinion a more diverse actor).But what is it about this movie that really sets it apart, outside of all the hair and even a yawn by one actor in a scene. It is the acting by uncredited (both on IMDb and in the final credits) as Danny Borelli. I don't know why or how this guy did it, but he plays perhaps the best recovering alcoholic in film history ... well maybe second best to Ray Milland. Don't take my word for it, watch this movie. Watch the way the Borelli character continues to be engaged in conversations and scenes when he is doesn't have lines (yes I realize as an actor that is his job ... but come on, how many actors actually follow through with their jobs.Charles Taylor is credited for playing Borelli as well as Dobbs, but Dobbs is the character that Borelli was following, and while they list Borelli's wife in the end credits of the film, I did not see the actors' name for Borelli listed ...