Sworn to Justice

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source: Sworn to Justice

A bit of an oddball mix of cringy corny acting, broody seriousness, goofy slapstick, violence, courtroom drama and martial art street fights. Cynthia brings her usual badass sexual on-screen presence, which just about carries her wooden acting. The soundtrack is out of place and the psychic stuff is just lazy nonsense. Entertaining enough if you like your 90s action with a female flavour.

Janna (Rothrock) is a psychologist who works as an expert witness in court trials. When her sister is killed by thugs, Janna wants revenge and finally realizes the only way to get real justice is to do it yourself. She also hits her head on a tree and becomes psychic. Happens all the time. Technically she develops her psychometry, which allows you a type of perception based on touching certain objects. Meanwhile, a romance develops between her and fellow Martial Arts practitioner and book publisher Nicholas (McKinney) - but evil chop shop boss Eugene (Scott) threatens everything. Is a cop named Briggs (Lo Bianco) doing everything he can on Janna's behalf? Or will Janna have to take on the baddies all by herself? Sworn to Justice is typical 90's Rothrock. But the cast assembled for this is truly impressive. Besides of course Cynthia herself, we have Kurt McKinney of No Retreat No Surrender (1986) fame in one of his only other action roles before he sank into the soap opera world. There's also Walter Koenig as a fellow headshrinker, before he sank into the Star Trek world. Brad Dourif plays one of the baddies, in a brief role, and Mako is on hand as a blind newsagent that somehow knows it all. Kenn Scott, of Showdown (1993) fame is here and he has a run-in with Ian Jacklin at his garage. Eric Lee has a cameo as a storekeeper, Art Camacho is yet another baddie, and Vince Murdocco is here too. The mighty Max Thayer is on board as an attorney, and tying it all together is Tony Lo Biano as the cop, Briggs. To assemble a cast like this is pretty mind-boggling. But Sworn to Justice isn't as epic as this might imply. While we liked the idea of a "psychic vigilante", and the fact that this is one of Cynthia's more glamorous and feminine roles goes a long way as well, there are some weird tone shifts in the movie. One minute there's a comedic brawl with wacky sound effects like "BOIIIING!" and elephant blarings (all for no reason that we can discern), and the next minute Janna is crying over her dead sister. But the fight scenes are what we're all here to see, and there are some good ones. The fight in the garage was a movie highlight, and is even reminiscent of the one from Misson of Justice (1992), which was a standout scene in that film as well. There is another Wincott/Mission of Justice parallel in addition to that one, because Cynthia uses Arnis sticks to fight baddies, just as Wincott does in that movie. There are some classic 90's-style tunes on the soundtrack by bands with names like Buddah Heads and Addict Sunday. It's good that they didn't blow their budget on the hot hits of the day, like The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991) foolishly did. Of course there is the time-honored sax on the soundtrack as well. While Rothrock fans will certainly want to see Sworn to Justice, it might be worth watching in general, simply for the cast they managed to assemble.

**SPOILERS** Interrupting a burglary at her sisters, Shelly, high-rise apartment criminal defense psychologist and martial-arts expert Janna Dane has it out with the four robbers and then, when they open fire on her, ending up jumping from the balcony and after breaking her fall. Janna ends up slamming into a tree-branch and lands smack dab on her head knocking herself out cold. With the police later on the scene of the crime it's found that both Janna's sister and nephew Michael were brutally murdered by the robbers. Later Janna also finds that her experience of almost cracking her head open also opened up her ability to get in touch with her psychic self. Working in the court system as a defense expert witness on the criminal mind, and what makes it tick, Janna is now bothered by getting killers, like those who murdered her kid sister and nephew, off by day while a the same time being a vigilante avenger against those same types of hoods by night. Janna later learns by touching a murder suspects weapon, a knife that he killed a policeman with, whom she's defending was one of the thugs who were involved in her sisters and nephew's murder. This makes it very difficult for Janna to do her job, as an expert witness for criminals like Slate, in the courts anymore. The group of thugs who killed both Shelly and Michael belong to a gang of ex-convicts run by this sadistic psycho Eugene who's being controlled and used by someone very high up in the city's justice system. Janna goes after this "Mr. Big", or what he likes to be called "The Man", but to get to him she has to take on the entire Eugene crime organization which turns out to be a task that not only taxes her fighting an psychic abilities but takes the lives of those near and dear to her as well. Cute, as well as beautiful, and spunky Cynthia Rothrock, as Janna Dane, is in top form and is far more effective and believable in her fight sequences then her love interest in the movie, and also martial-arts expert, Kurt McKinney who plays lawyer and psychic book publisher Nicholas who comes across as a long behind second in the fight scenes that their both in. Being an five-year undefeated martial-arts woman champion in real life Cynthia doesn't need to have a double or any special effects to make her role look genuine and her kicks and punches are powerful enough to put down and knock out not only one but a couple of men, at one time, twice her size. Going out in the streets at night to grind down the Eugene Gang in a number of sizzling fight sequence's Janna finally gets the person behind all their criminal activities non other then Santa Martin Police Detective Sgt. Briggs, Tony Lo Bionco. Sgt. Briggs has been blackmailing Eugene & Co. by threatening to put them back behind bars for life if they didn't follow his orders. Which were to shake down car shops and dealerships in the neighborhood and force them into chopping up stolen cars, that the Eugene Gang hijacks. Then have the gang pay more then 60% of the profits back to the gangsters which Briggs gets a nice chunk of change off. With Eugene and his friends put out of action by both Janna and later her boyfriend Nick Sgt. Briggs is left all alone to not only face the music but also Janna's lethal and lighting-like "Scorpion Kick".

This movie probably is not as good as my review but Cynthia Rothrock is the the Queen of martial arts action women. She was ahead of her time and it is not her fault that many of her films were weak in script and cinematography. She has great screen presence and her fight choreography is terrific. This movie is from the heyday of "straight to VHS" martial arts movies that fueled a generation of martial arts movie fans. This American attempt to be more focused on plot and acting is effective. The supporting cast is good. The Direction and cinematography are solidly "B" but the fighting is great. If you are unfamiliar with Rothrock, this is a good place to start. If you are fan this is a great one to enjoy, or enjoy again.

This movie isn't for everyone, but there is some fun to be had for fans of 90s action B-movies. The story is basically a gender swapped Death Wish. Televison level acting and production value is to be expected, so no surprise there. There is some solid action in this film. Again, Rothrock fans should find something to enjoy here.

Vigilante martial arts & sci-fi film. Professional woman is attacked by burglars, which causes her to somehow acquire psychic powers. She uses her new powers to become a vigilante by night while being a forensic prosecution witness by day. Not exactly plausible, but okay if you like sci-fi martial arts action with Cynthia Rothrock kicking ass. Mild (tasteful) topless Rothrock love scene thrown in, perhaps to balance chop suey with her feminine side.

I've seen several of Cynthia Rothrock's films - both her Hong Kong and her American ones - and one thing they have in common is that her femininity is usually largely ignored: she is there mainly as a fighter, not as a woman (though sometimes the tight outfits she puts on leave little doubt about her physical attributes). But in "Sworn To Justice" she makes probably her boldest appearances ever: 2 lingerie scenes, 2 sex scenes. And truth be told, she is very sexy. She could work as a living ad for practicing martial arts - "you do it too, and you'll have a body like that when you're 40". This focus on Cynthia's body is not the only aspect that separates "Sworn To Justice" from most of her other vehicles: there is also a slapstick comedy fight sequence, psychic powers, a lesbian love confession at a tragic moment, and a bad guy discussing with his brother's burnt corpse! The fighting highlight of the film comes when Cynthia goes up against an acrobatic Asian guy - you can see her Hong Kong days living again in that scene. Disappointingly, the climactic fight scene goes to her male co-star, Kurt McKinney. The other problem is the plot, which has a few too many scattered sub-plots. But as I already said, if you want to see Cynthia Rothrock going sexy, this is your best chance. (**1/2)

SWORN TO JUSTICE is something of a mixed-bag martial arts thriller starring the one and only Cynthia Rothrock, perhaps America's best-known female martial artist. As a huge fan of Rothrock's Hong Kong movies made in the 1980s, I can report that this film is far below quality, although it's still enjoyable for fans of 1990s-era B-movie fare. Rothrock plays a psychologist (somewhat unbelievably) whose sister is brutally murdered in the opening sequence. She goes gunning for revenge against the goons who committed the crime, handily using her new-found psychic abilities unlocked thanks to a blow on the head. So you get an EYES OF LAURA MARS-type sub-plot in addition to the usual action thriller format. Rothrock has never been the world's best actress but she is likable and that's what counts. Here she's in her prime, confident enough to go near-* in a couple of lengthy sex scenes which seem inspired by the Shannon Tweed-style erotic thrillers that were all the rage in the 1990s. She doesn't get to fight as much as I'd hoped, and unforgivably the main baddie fight at the climax is given to another actor, but she's in remarkable condition and looks great on screen. The film features three cameos from famous faces: Brad Dourif has a one-scene turn as a creepy killer, Walter Koenig is a friendly superior, and Mako a blind old-timer dispensing justice (check out his luxurious head of hair). The film randomly jumps from tragedy and emoting to lame comedy, with some of the early fights accompanied by cartoon sound effects (a guy hit on the head hears birds tweeting). These are really embarrassing. The main problem with the action, though, is that most if not all of the fights are staged at night so you can't see the performers doing what they do best. The director needs lessons in martial arts choreography and staging.