Just the Ticket #173: Martial Law II - Undercover

Article by Sean Wilkinson,

a.k.a. The Ticketmaster.

It's week two of March-al Law Month, Ticketholders!

I was going to compose this Monday afternoon, but instead I decided to clean up my Facebook by unfriending some accounts that I added in the past to boost my analytics (but they were just click farms and thirst traps). In the process, I ran across a bunch of names and faces that I recognized from junior high school, and I went down a more genuine, positive rabbit hole than before. I don't know if it will help my readership numbers better than a bunch of international randos, but the discovery and nostalgia (even from recognizing the names of guys who bullied me back then) made procrastinating on this review worth the spiritual effort. It felt good, and I feel even better for it.

That said, what do I have to do to get you all reading my stuff again‽ Is One Piece not enough? Are Dragon Ball and Zenescope not enough? Is it the movie selections? My formatting? Word choices? ...Profanity‽ Please remember to Become A Ticketholder if you haven't yet, comment your input at the bottom of this post, help out my ad revenue as you read so I can afford to leave the country if Trump declares martial law, and follow me on BlueSky, Tumblr, Reddit, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn to like what you see and receive the latest news on my ass-kicking content.

There's some discrepancy in release dates for the first Martial Law (1990 or the previously stated 1991) and its Undercover sequel (1991 and the Philippines release date of 1992), but both were written by Penny Dreadful scribe Richard Brandes and star the Queen Of Martial Arts Cynthia Rothrock as officer Billie Blake. Despite both films being direct-to-video releases, Martial Law II: Undercover seems to have made better use of its budget.

The plot of Undercover is essentially the same as the first, with an overly ambitious crime lord (this time it's nightclub owner Spencer Hamilton, played by Van Helsing and One Tree Hill star Paul Johansson) who employs martial artists to act as security and assist in his shady enterprises (including the imposing Tanner, played by Evan Lurie, and Bree, played by Black Scorpion villain Sherrie Rose), and caused the death of someone adjacent to the main character.

This movie makes no mention of Michael Thompson's death or any other events of the first film, and things kick off with Sean (now played by Night Heat star and Last Man Standing actor Jeff Wincott, who is far superior in terms of acting and fighting ability compared to Chad McQueen) having been transferred and promoted to a new precinct where his new boss (played by Children Of the Corn and Tremors alum Billy Drago, so you know he's dirty on casting alone) is trying to keep him from making his academy buddy's murder case a personal project.

But with Billie doing the title on his behalf to infiltrate Hamilton's Club Syntax as a new bartender, she essentially supplants Sean (the title character) as the main character for most of the runtime, as her investigation bears a friendship with one of the club's dirt-gathering hostesses, Tiffany (played by Deborah Driggs, Neon Bleed), whose favorite client is a well-concealed but obvious twist in a movie that has an impressive number of moving parts for a production of its scale.

Speaking of things that are impressive for Martial Law II, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the late Bridget Carney (Sorority House Massacre II) in her scene as an unnamed Flash Dancer at Club Syntax. Despite knowing she is just a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment

in a direct-to-video 90s martial arts sequel, Carney goes hard with her dance moves in the little screentime she has.

And speaking of moving parts, Hamilton's evil plan is Lethal Weapon 3 levels of convoluted, but needlessly so. In order to pay an associate two million dollars for an underground fighting network (which, he could have just taken from the man after establishing a pretense of commerce and having him killed, but oh, well), Hamilton must use Tiffany's charms (and her murder) to get leverage on Billy Drago's character so he will lead a squad of corrupt cops (and Sean, because there has to be a scapegoat and he hasn't mattered in the movie for awhile) on an evidence heist so Hamilton can sell the stolen drugs and guns on the black market. This all culminates in Sean and Billie fighting Hamilton and Tanner in an industrial building full of well-utilized opportunities for setting-based fight choreography (though there's way too much of Billie sending goons Wilhelm screaming to their skull-shattering deaths, and Sean rips off the chain-hanging from Die Hard). Hamilton's death was pretty gruesome and shocking, though, as is the final scene that ends the movie on the most abrupt, disturbing, morbid note possible at the time.

Though the film series continues to struggle with finding its focus, Undercover is superior to Martial Law as a martial arts movie, Wincott is a more believable and competent Sean Thompson, the final fight alone (despite it being another case of "villain fights hero with a blunt tool while sidekicks face off in the background") shows an increase in production value, and the ending shows a willingness to have this sequel embrace a darker tone.

B-

Next week, Jeff Wincott returns for a sequel in name only (depending on where and when it was distributed), so Stay Tuned and remember to please Become A Ticketholder if you haven't yet, leave a comment at the bottom of this post, help out my ad revenue as you read so I can afford to leave the country if Trump declares martial law, and follow me on BlueSky, Tumblr, Reddit, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn to like what you see and receive the latest news on my ass-kicking content.

Ticketmaster,

Out.

Law.