In the eighties, Hong Kong action cinema was known to international action fans as a B-movie luxury brand, and director Corey Yuen’s Righting Wrongs (a.k.a. Above the Law) qualifies as one of its most exhilarating exports. Yuen Biao, the underrated “third brother” of the acting triumvirate also featuring Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, stars as Hsia Ling-cheng, a disaffected lawyer who dispenses justice via kicks, punches and a metric tonne of pain. While Hsia oversees a drug trial implicating some white collar businessmen, an assassin (Peter Cunningham) dressed as a policeman infiltrates a housing estate to murder the key witness. Notably, the assassin kills the witness’ entire family, including several children, clearly signaling the despicable nature of the film’s antagonists.
With the witness dead, the charges against the accused are dropped, but Hsia and the presiding judge (the great actor Roy Chiao in a cameo) reach a swift solution to this injustice: vigilantism In short order, Hsia takes out one of the accused and his bodyguards in a glass-smashing office building throwdown. Enter tough, no-nonsense Inspector Sindy Si (Cynthia Rothrock), who teams with sloppy detective Bad Egg (director Corey Yuen) to investigate Hsia’s violent killings. The two are soon following Hsia, but they also track young Man (future action actor Louis Fan), who has accidentally discovered the true mastermind behind the crimes…
Given its common tropes, Righting Wrongs would be suitable as direct-to-video American fare, if not for its eye-popping action and refreshingly dark plot turns. The film serves up narrative surprise in how it spares few from harm – like the children unceremoniously killed at the beginning – and ultimately offers a morally murky take on police corruption and vigilante justice. The dark tone of the film actually wasn’t suitable for all territories; a softer alternative ending was produced that showed a moral stance while keeping a few extra characters alive.
However, it’s the action that matters, and Righting Wrongs offers fast, hard and uncompromising fight sequences. The film races from set piece to set piece briskly, serving up astonishingly creative action at every turn. Corey Yuen’s Peking opera schooling (Yuen performed alongside Yuen Biao, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung in the “Seven Little Fortunes” opera troupe) is evident in the acrobatic stuntwork and intricate choreography, in which each movement leads to the next with incredible speed and seamless precision.
Most of all, every action sequence looks painful. Actors jump from perilous heights, get hit by cars, are thrown through glass or into concrete, and hit the floor with crippling impact. This isn’t graceful action, but hard-hitting, bone-breaking stuff that hurts. To top it off, Yuen Biao gets dragged behind a single-engine prop plane that takes off, leaving him dangling hundreds of feet off the ground. Strings were attached but the filmmakers’ dedication and bravery fully convince.
The film also gives Cynthia Rothrock opportunities to shine; the American stuntwoman-actress is a lesser though still relevant icon of Hong Kong action cinema and she more than holds her own both against and alongside Yuen Biao.
Unfortunately, films like Righting Wrongs are no longer en vogue in Hong Kong. Audiences now prefer slick Hollywood films over rough-and-tough local fare, and that’s a loss because there’s craft, showmanship and even brilliance in practical action and stuntwork. Forgive the hyperbole, but if action choreography can be considered art then Righting Wrongs belongs in a museum.