Lady Dragon (1992)

Lady Dragon (1992)
Aka: Lady Kickboxer

 

Starring:  Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton, Robert Ginty, Bella Esperance, Hengky Tornado, Pitradjaya Burnama, Diaz Tangkilisan
Director: David Worth
Action Director: Tanaka

 

The prevailing wisdom dictates that Cynthia Rothrock’s non-HK output is not only inferior to what she did in Hong Kong, but that it’s actively bad MA cinema, all things considered. I’m pretty sure that was true to some extent, especially the further into the 2000s we got. After all, Sci-Fighter was just horrid and Outside the Law ran out of money before they filmed the finale, leaving them a few hours for what was supposed to be one of her best end fights since her HK years. Within a few years, she was playing supporting roles in beefcake parades and no-budget Christmas films for David DeCouteau. I think the older she gets and more unlikely it is that we’ll ever see a good showcase from her again, the more her 1990s output will be re-evaluated.

Not all of her post-HK output was made in America. She made three English-language films in Indonesia: Angel of Fury and the two Lady Dragon movies. Written by Clifford Mohr and directed by cinematographer-turned-director David Worth, the Lady Dragon films are essentially two different of takes on the same premise: Cynthia Rothrock using her martial arts skills to take revenge on the scumbags who raped her and murdered her husband. David Worth is best known for photographing Bloodsport and directing the first Kickboxer, and one can definitely see the influence of the latter in this movie.

Rothrock plays Kathy Galagher, an expatriate martial artist living in (presumably) Jakarta, Indonesia. When we meet her, she’s participating in an underground fighting contest against a much bigger opponent—prepares to listen to the groans of people who can’t suspend disbelief at this sort of thing. She takes more than a few lumps, but is ultimately victorious and walks away with a nice purse from the fight.

While getting a drink at the bar later that evening, Kathy is visited by Gibson (Robert Ginty, best known for The Exterminator 1 & 2), a CIA agent of sorts who confronts her about her quest for revenge against Ludwig Hauptman (Richard Norton, of Rage and Honor and City Hunter), a German-Australian arms dealer working out of his importation company in Jakarta. We learn through flashback that Hauptman had her husband murdered just as they were leaving the church on their wedding day. Gibson warns her that Hauptman is too powerful and well-guarded for a single person to take down. As expected, she just ignores him.

Later that evening, Kathy dresses like a hooker and heads to one of Ludwig’s nightclub haunts. She gets in a fight with several of his guards, but then tries to retreat when they all start pulling guns on her. Ludwig interrogates her in a room reserved for Hauptman and whatever strumpet he picks up on any given night, but Kathy is a horrible liar. When she refuses to answer any question he asks to his satisfaction, he rapes her, beats her, and leaves her for dead out in the sticks. Interestingly enough, the rape is depicted as a quick montage of close-ups of the scantily-clad women on the posters that adorn the walls of the room they’re in. Sort of an odd, but tasteful way to depict something that is anything but.

Kathy is found by a young boy (Diaz Tangkilisan, of Blood Warriors and Without Mercy) and his mute grandfather (Pitradjaya Burnama, Escape from Hellhole and Blood Warriors). They nurse Kathy back to health and, as luck would have it, grandfather is some sort of master of pencak silat. He’s to Indonesia martial arts what Dennis Chan’s Xian Chow was to muay thai in Kickboxer. So she starts a training regimen that involves moving up and down bamboo poles and all sorts of flexibility training. Eventually, Kathy is ready to leave and head back to the big city for revenge. And to get close to Hauptman, she’s going to start with his lover, played by Lady Dragon 2’s Bella Esperance.

Lady Dragon plays a lot like David Worth’s own Kickboxer, but with a female lead and the element of sexual assault included among the protagonist’s grievances. The middle act in the rural Indonesian village is very similar to Jean-Claude Van Damme’s extended training sequence in Kickboxer. This film, however, starts off with Cynthia’s Kathy Galagher already being a top martial artist, albeit not quite good enough to face off with Richard Norton’s Ludwig. That said, there’s even a bit during the final fight where Cynthia is (temporarily) forced to throw the fight at the risk of losing her loved ones.

Both Lady Dragon films give Cynthia Rothrock a little more opportunity to act than most of her Hong Kong fare did. Those films generally required her to look tough and kick ass, which was fine. In these films, she’s both emotionally vulnerable and subject to some of the worst sort of treatment any woman can go through. I’m not sure she plays the most convincing or compelling rape victim, but I appreciate her efforts to do more than usual no-nonsense persona.

Richard Norton plays his villain much in the same way he played Giancarlo in Mr. Nice Guy: a charming villain with a sophisticated exterior covering a savage inner self. Considering the number of times they have played partners, lovers and fighting buddies, it is strange to see him do horrible things to Cynthia, even if it’s offscreen. Later scenes suggest that Norton’s villain is a full-blown sexual deviant, making him the slimiest of villains that Norton has thus far played.

The action was staged by a fellow named Tanaka, who is also credited with Rothrock’s other Indonesia films. He also shows up as one of Richard Norton’s chief enforcers. I was surprised with the quality of the action in this movie. On a scale of 1 to 10—"1” being the crap that Don “The Dragon” Wilson was churning out at the time and “10” being Sammo Hung at his 1980s best—I would rate the action a 5 or a 6. The exchanges are not quite as detailed and complex as the best of Hong Kong’s 1980s kickboxing era, but they are not slow and static affairs. My main complaint about the fighting is the sound design, which is crappy. The sound FX themselves fail to accentuate the power of the blows, and they are often played at a low volume which makes the hits feel weak.

The first fight, which pits Rothrock against a tall, muscular fighter, is actually quite long and sets up the film quite nicely. She performs her infamous scorpion kick against him several times, even though the dude is buff enough that he can take three to the dome without flinching. The fight at the nightclub is shorter, but she does some good moves. A fight between Cynthia and some guards later in the film allows her to show off her pole skills and perform a vertical front over-the-shoulder kick. A later fight has Norton fighting with some of his guards, one of whom is wielding a pair of sai swords and another who fights with nunchaku. It’s actually a really well-choreographed one-vs-many fight and Norton shines in it. The finale is a lengthy one-on-one pit fight between Rothrock and Norton, and the two just savage each other for almost ten minutes. Forget JCVD vs. Bolo Yeung or Tong Po. This fight is where it’s at. Both of them get a very good showcase here.

The pacing could have been tightened up a little better. The camera could have been placed better during some of the fights. And the sound FX could have been more…dynamic. But all in all, Lady Dragon makes for a solid 90 minutes of martial arts mayhem.

This review is part of "Month of the Dragon"