What comes to mind when you here the title Above the Law? Is it perpetually constipated action actor Steven Seagal? That's who would come to my mind, but in this case we would be wrong. This is a different Above the Law, one that actually predates the Seagal flick by two years and was originally called Righting Wrongs. This is a film from Hong Kong starring martial arts stars Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock, and directed by Corey Yuen.
Believe it or not, the Seagal film is the better of the two when it comes to having a story. However, as good as Seagal was in his heyday, the Hong Kong film may have that one beat in terms of quality fights. This Above the Law is filled with impressive combat by those who know how to deliver the goods. On a side note, the Seagal film had its title changed in the UK to Nico to avoid confusion with the Biao film.
The story concerns a young prosecutor, played by Biao, who has become fed up with the way the laws seem to protect the criminals more than they are used to imprison them and protect the innocent. The movie gets off to an explosive start before we even get to his verbalized desire to do more than just prosecute the bad guys. Biao is present at the assassination of one of his mentors and is unable to prevent the killing. So, in true hero fashion, he jumps in a car and takes off in pursuit of the assassins, where he succeeds in his intended task, thus setting up his intent to take on the bad guys in a much more direct fashion.
Biao is next seen in a court proceeding, where he learns that his witnesses have been murdered, which allows a couple of nasty fellows to go free. Now, what crimes they are accused of, I do not know, and for the purpose of this movie it doesn't really matter. Above the Law isn't so much about the bad guys, as it is about the idea of vigilantism and the choices made by said vigilante wannabe. Following the delay in the trial, Biao, with the veiled blessing of the trial judge, heads out to take care of the two defendants himself.
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