Martial Law (1991)

Directed by Steve Cohen. Starring Chad McQueen, Cynthia Rothrock, David Carradine, Andy McCutcheon, Philip Tan, Vincent Craig Dupree, Jim Malinda, Tony Longo, Patricia Wilson, John Fujiyoko, Professor Toru Tanaka. [R]

Steve McQueen’s son and martial arts B-movie queen Rothrock team up to take down Carradine’s Mr. Big, cheap melodrama and cut-rate hand-to-hand combat ensue. As generic as the title suggests, enlivened only by the laughter of embarrassment and Dupree’s screwy sass and general stupidity (he’s the sorta guy who knows the bad guys assigned a flunky to kill him, and then willingly shows up at the bad guys’ doorstep to tattle on the flunky for declining to do so). With most of the budget being spent on mullet styling, the best scene comes at the very beginning when a hostage situation really escalates once the boss baddie demands decorum before deciding there’s time for a little snack. There are better ways to waste your time.

16/100