‘Lady Scorpions’ Review
Stars: Cynthia Rothrock, Caitlin Dechelle, Sofia O’Brien, Jose Manuel, Jeff Fahey | Written by Bruce Del Castillo, Stephen Carolan | Directed by Bruce Del Castillo
The good news is that Cynthia Rothrock (The Last Kumite, Fyre Rises) has a new film, Lady Scorpions. The bad news is that it’s from Tiger Style Media, the same production company that gave us the underwhelming Art of Eight Limbs and The Lockdown. The good news for you is that I’m willing to risk taking a bullet, or a kick to the head, to tell you if the third time is a charm for them.
On her way to her car, Lacy (Caitlin Dechelle; Chinese Zodiac, Furious 7) gets jumped by a pair of attackers whom she makes quick work of. Not that she was in any danger, it was a demonstration for her self-defence class. She’s less successful at getting her mother Alena (Cynthia Rothrock) to pick up the phone when she calls to remind her tomorrow is her granddaughter Ariel’s (Sofia O’Brien) birthday.
That could be because she’s a Fed and is busy getting footage of Sonny (Jose Manuel; Dispatched, The Fist of the Condor) trying to intimidate some Russian mobsters. She’s discovered and has to fight off assorted bodyguards until Sonny’s daddy, Lucien (Jeff Fahey; The Long Night, The Lawnmower Man) turns up. Lucien just wants to pull off one last deal and retire, but Sonny keeps complicating things. He tells her this while they chat about the joys of parenthood. Then, rather than do the smart thing and kill her, he and his entourage drive off and leave her in the desert.
Lady Scorpions is the first feature from director Bruce Del Castillo, who has primarily worked as a grip on films like Kill Bill and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. He also co-wrote the film with Stephen Carolan (Ticket to Ride). H. Daniel Gross also has a writer’s credit, but it’s for the original story, so he can’t do the damage here that he did on Tiger Style Media’s previous films.
Not that Castillo and Carolan need help when it comes to putting clichés on paper. Sonny crashes Ariel’s birthday party and takes her hostage to keep Alena at bay. We all know that’s going to do just the opposite, and her mother and grandmother will put their differences aside and leave a trail of bodies in their wake as they fight their way through mob muscle and corrupt government officials on their mission to her rescue.
While the plot may be overly familiar, Lady Scorpions does try to set itself apart in other areas, such as Lucien and his crew’s first appearance, which looks, and sounds, like it was taken from a 70s Western. Or the use of upbeat music over a scene of our heroines pouring hot sauce into someone’s eye, in split screen no less. Unfortunately, there are too few of these touches for them to feel like anything but gimmicks.
And, when it comes down to it, the score by Joe Wong (Carol & The End of the World, Ballmastrz: Rubicon) is one of the film’s bigger weaknesses. Much of it seems to be the same few synth notes looped for long stretches of the film, something that’s made quite noticeable by how loud it is. An uptempo pop song during the final act just adds insult to injury.
One thing Lady Scorpions does have going for it is better fight scenes than its predecessors. Ángel G. Brophy (Eggshells, Blackout) and director of photography Ernesto Lomeli (Muse, Stan Lee) combine to deliver some nicely staged brawls, including a sword fight, among the various shootouts and torture scenes. Unfortunately, there’s much more that goes wrong than goes right in Lady Scorpions. That includes the revelation of why Alena is so obsessed with bringing Lucien’s empire down. Yes, it makes sense, but once you know it, it makes his letting her live at the beginning even less understandable.
** 2/5
If you just want to see Cynthia Rothrock beat a few people up, this might work for you. But just about everything surrounding the action scenes is a mess, including the all-too-predictable final shot. Lady Scorpions is available on Digital Platforms via Paramount’s budget label, Republic Pictures.
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