“Life’s a bitch and then you die.”
Ex-CIA agent Kathy Galager (Cynthia Rothrock) has sworn revenge on crime boss Ludwig Hauptman (Richard Norton) for the death of her husband. But when her plan for revenge goes awry she is rescued by an old man (Pitradjaya Burnama) and a little boy (Diaz Tangkilisan) who train her to be a “lady dragon”. Armed with a new set of skills Galager renews her vendetta.
Lady Dragon (1992) was the first of two Cynthia Rothrock vehicles directed by David Worth who had success with the film Kickboxer (1989). Worth is more than capable of staging and photographing fight scenes. Even if his use of “instant replays” becomes a bit gratuitous Worth’s fight scenes never lose their momentum. In a film predicated on martial arts excess Worth’s kinetic style is a must.
Beyond the epic battles between good and evil exists an interesting commentary in Lady Dragon. The villain Ludwig is depicted as a sadistic rapist. Women, with the exception of Rothrock’s character, exist as objects for Ludwig to exploit and prey upon. By making Rothrock the exempt exception in this way the film suggests that she is the wrath of feminism; a heroine fighting on behalf of women. Rothrock’s Kathy Galager is the closest the action star has come to playing a Ms. 45 (1981) type. This added dimension eclipses the other motives driving the character, compelling the viewer to read Lady Dragon as a rape/revenge narrative.
This isn’t to imply that the tone of Lady Dragon is particularly dark. On the contrary Lady Dragon is mostly played as light escapism. The scenes with the old man and the little boy feel like a family adventure film in contrast to Ludwig’s acts of sexual violence. At one point the little boy exclaims, after an epic training montage, “Yes! A Lady Dragon!”.
This kind of tonal whiplash between mature content and family centric whimsy isn’t uncommon in martial arts movies. Most of Rothrock’s films stradle the line between family friendly fair and more adult content. The feat here is that Worth can cut between the two relatively seamlessly. Lady Dragon may look like a hodgepodge of ideas and tones on close examination, but in the moment the adrenaline rush of the action blurs those aesthetic lines.
As is typical of Cynthia Rothrock picture there’s plenty of eccentric choices to delight in on a superficial level. For starters there is Rothrock’s phony looking brunette wig. Then there is the awkwardly staged confrontation on a rooftop between the little boy and a thug that defies space and time. But none of that compares to the epic number of “replays” during the final confrontation between Rothrock and Norton. This final battle becomes a blur of kicks and punches that ceases to make sense after “replay” after “replay”.
Lady Dragon is one of Rothrock’s best features of the nineties. It may not be as memorable as Sworn To Justice or as inspired as Undeafetable, but it is a solid showcase for the award winning martial artist. Where those films lean into inspired lunacy and, as a byproduct, negate cliche, Lady Dragon embraces the narrative tropes of its genre. Lady Dragon is definitely a “must see” for Rothrock fans.
