If you have never seen the movie 'Office Space', there is a scene where the main dude says "I'm gonna go home and watch kung-fu. Do you watch kung-fu?" after deciding that he could care less about work. Several hours ago, I was faced with the same situation: Do I study for my exams, or do I some watch kung-fu movies? Well, after some consultation and noticing the un-watched copy of 'Martial Outlaw' sitting on my desk, I came to the conclusion that I would be better off watching some kung-fu. That would come to be the best decision I've ever made.
Jeff Wincott plays Kevin White, a DEA agent, master of the ways of arse kicking, and not-quite-yet a master of the snappy comeback. On the trail of a Russian drug-lord named Niko (Vladimir Skomarovsky), Kevin ends up back in his hometown of Los Angeles, where his brother Jack (Gary Hudson) is a cop, and also master of the ways of arse kicking. Jack is quite jealous of his little brother: Kevin went to college, Kevin is a better fighter, Kevin is a higher paid and higher ranking cop, and Kevin has a more impressive physique. OK, the last one was a guess: Kevin removes his shirt at any opportunity, while Jack stays clothed for the whole movie. When Kevin arrives in town, Jack sees an opportunity to make a deal with Niko and walk away a millionaire.
The box makes a point of stating that 'Martial Outlaw' is "from the makers of 'Martial Law'" which might explain why the plots for both movies were... almost exactly the same. That's right, tweak a few details and 'Martial Law' becomes 'Martial Outlaw'. Awesome. Naturally, both the plot and acting in this are as weak as Jeff Wincott is ripped, but that is to be expected when watching a direct-to-video martial arts film. In fact, Gary Hudson sounds suspiciously like Bruce Campbell, the king of b-movies, through most of the film...
The action scenes are somewhat impressive, given the nature of the film. Small action movies are generally entertaining, but 'Martial Outlaw' could fool you into thinking that it came from Hong Kong in the 80s / early 90s. The fights aren't THAT good, but for a small action movie, they are well choreographed. Unfortunately, they degenerate into the pure silliness mastered by Hong Kong movies from the 70s. Still is more entertaining and better choreographed than nearly anything with a big budget that has come out of Hollywood recently. Awesome.
David Carradine is nowhere to be seen in this movie. On the other hand, Al Leong can be spotted doing his generic Asian bad guy thing. I guess an Al Leong appearance is always assumed for any American action movie.
'Martial Outlaw' is an entertaining action movie, but the only people who should watch it are the small group of action fans who have even heard of it. Bad plot and acting, along with rampant silliness would turn most people off - 6/10
Awesome count: The word 'awesome' was used twice in this review.
