Martial Law

"Not slow, just fat"

I've been watching this show from the beginning, and I think I'll continue to do so. The action is good, and the story is, as far as I can see, devoid of stupid little flaws. (Then again, I haven't been looking for them). However, the first episode of the second (?) season (the one with the new chief and Jerry Doyle as McQueen) had a small flaw that I noticed without running it on slow motion: A pair of handcuffs breaking, then being whole again in the next cut. I hope there's not a lot of these, as I will be looking forward to the next episode.

The best things about it, in my opinion, are Sammo's wit and a great pace.

"Martial Law" is your standard cop show in one way - the actual "cop stuff" is the usual nonsense you can see anywhere on TV, the "same old same old" which makes real cops wince. What makes this show worth watching is the incredible martial arts prowess of the cast - especially Sammo Hung. Just like Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat, Sammo trained at the Peking Opera School, which makes for a unique - and often funny - style of martial arts. The entire cast works well together, and they can all actually *act* - unlike a certain 'Texas Ranger' who comes on after this show. Lots of comedy in this show - they don't (usually) go for the cheap "Chinaman in America" jokes, and they actually seem to remember what they've done from one show to the next. All of the martial arts used on the set are real - Sammo, obviously, is an expert, and Louis Mandylor ("Louis") is trained in "muy thai" (Thai kickboxing), while Tammy Lauren ("Dana") is a black belt in Karate [I haven't heard a real reason for her departure], and Kellu Hu ("Grace / Pei Pei") is a brown belt in Karate. Tom Wright ("Lt. Winship") is a former stuntman, and does his own stunts in the show as well. And, just as with Jackie Chan's movies, at the end of every episode they have a brief "outtakes" section, showing some of the goofs that occured during the filming of the episode.

Good acting, decent plots, and plenty of kick-butt action, as well as many comedic moments (Sammo playing "Smoke On The Water" on the guitar...) make this a show to watch.

The 1990's were quite disappointing for fans of action shows. Martial Law was one of the few good shows.

Sammo Hung played Sammo Law in this show. He was brilliant. I am not a big fan of Martial Arts shows but this was entertaining. The stunts and the fight scenes were just amazing. Sammo was very agile for his size and there was always fun in watching him beat the bad guys; he always used their own weapons against them. No bad guy could beat Sammo-even if they had a gun or a knife. Sammo just kicked their butts.

Add to this the chemistry between all the characters and the great villains throughout the series and you have one really great show. Check it out.

When "Martial Law" premiered, I was hooked. Sure, it wasn't great art or fabulous writing on display, but the show was goofy fun. But then bit by bit, the producers tinkered with the show, and with each adjustment, the show became worse.

The first misstep happened shortly after the theatrical movie "Rush Hour" became a hit. The producers must have thought "Hey! What this show needs is an obnoxious, hip, and streetwise partner for Sammo Hung!" Shortly afterwards, Arsenio Hall became a cast member, and his character was EXTREMELY annoying.

The next misstep was when the second season of the show premiered. First, the producers had fired several cast members, despite these fired actors and their characters being a very likable bunch. They also ignored or quickly wrote out the plot threads that had been going along in the previous season.

After some time, the producers tinkered with the show again. Suddenly Kelly Hu's character had a COMPLETELY different background, and the show suddenly had the characters fighting with a secret organization that threatened the city each week. This organization was treated with the same goofiness of the evil secret organization in the "Inspector Gadget" animated series.

Fortunately, the show was cancelled after the second season had played out. (And around this time, to Arsenio Hall's credit, he admitted that the show was terrible.) Since this series only ran two seasons, it is highly unlikely that the show will be seen in syndication, at least in North America. Just as well. If you DO get the chance to see the show, watch it until Arsenio Hall appears. Then stop watching!

Sammo Hung's acting may be a bit stilted, but you can't say the same for his awesome martial arts skills. It's a shame Martial Law was cancelled at the millenium. It should have gone on for two or three more seasons.