Not in any way connected to the television series of the same name starring Sammo Hung, the film “Martial Law” is awful cop movie with some underwhelming martial arts action. It’s so low-budget that it looks like it was made in the 70s rather than 1990.

Sean ‘Martial Law’ Thompson (Chad McQueen “The Karate Kid”) is a tough cop that fears that his younger brother might be involved in gang activity. Thompson and his colleague and lover, Billie Blake (Cynthia Rothrock “China O’Brien”, “Sworn To Justice”), must defeat the ruthless Dalton Rhodes (David Carradine “Death Race 2000”) and his deadly gang.

Chad McQueen is absolutely abysmal as Thompson. He’s arguably the dullest actor I’ve seen in an action film. Granted, he has a poor script to work with but he makes Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Bloodsport”) look like Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane”). He has no personality whatsoever and his martial arts skills don’t seem all that impressive. Cynthia Rothrock is a little better and she certainly does know how to fight. Too bad that the rest of the movie is so terrible. David Carradine is bland as the villain and he is not a real martial artist. The fight scenes involving Carradine look seriously lame. I recognised Benny Urquidez (“Dragons Forever”) and Toru Tanakaa (“The Running Man”, “Last Action Hero”) as henchmen.

“Martial Law” is a lousy movie from beginning to end. It’s a painfully generic cop flick with a completely forgettable plot. Some of the acting is truly horrendous. I almost have a new level of appreciation for some of the Steven Seagal films such as “Hard To Kill” and “Marked For Death”. Cynthia Rothrock is a capable martial artist but she needs a film that doesn’t look like it was filmed on a budget equal to the cost of a cheap car.