The best of Cynthia Rothrock's starring vehicles are those that center her martial arts skills, and the lion's share of these are deliciously blunt, over the top, ridiculous romps. 'Outside the law' does let Rothrock exercise her knowledge of martial disciplines, if not nearly as much as one may prefer. In fact, while in general this is a reasonably solid action-thriller, one big problem is that it feels like a movie anyone could have made. It feels like a movie we've seen before with someone else (probably Ashley Judd, or Jennifer Lopez), and that we'll inevitably see again, with still another cast. None of this is to say that this feature is bad, but there's no one aspect that leaps out as being particularly remarkable, or praiseworthy. You could do a lot worse - but there are plenty of other titles to check out first.
What instances of action we do get are fun, including the climactic showdown. These scenes are nonetheless dampened somewhat by overzealous camerawork and editing which further hinders the production at large at some points. Some small inclusions don't add anything to the story, whether in the dialogue or scene writing, while characters are common and familiar for the space they inhabit in the narrative. That narrative is mostly fine as it's written, but at the climax and ending it becomes considerably more specious. James Lew's character has no meaningful connection to an antagonist except that he's been hired halfway through the runtime as extra muscle; that the noted climactic showdown is between Rothrock's Julie and Lew's Cho Sung makes it hard to care as much about the inevitable outcome. The ease with which the heroes are able to infiltrate the enemy hideout in the last stretch of the film defies suspension of disbelief, and the threads of the plot are tied together so haphazardly that the resolution is in no way satisfying.
I don't like the way 'Outside the law' was shot and sequenced, but otherwise I think it's well made from a technical standpoint. The material requires nothing special of the cast, but they are generally fine in realizing their characters and the story. It's passably entertaining. For anything that's done fairly well, however, there's just no real spark. Once again - anyone could have made this movie. Rothrock stars - great; so what? I'd love to speak at still greater length about all the details herein, love them or hate them, but the movie just doesn't make much of an impression, nor try to. At least it helped to pay the bills for the cast and crew, so it has that going for it.
There are many features in the world that are far worse than 'Outside the law.' Whatever it was about this to draw your attention, however, the simple fact of the matter is that there are plenty of other titles more noteworthy and deserving of your attention. Casually enjoyable, this is something best left for an extra lazy day.
