As I said before, Honor and Rage has at least 3 different levels. The most obvious of these is 'Standard Action Film'. Viewed as an action movie, Rage and Honor is slightly above average. The protagonists, Kris Fairchild (Cynthia Rothrock) and Preston Micheals (Richard Norton) join forces to retrieve a video tape that will clear Preston of cop killing charges. Kris also wants to settle things with her brother, Conrad Drago, who is now runs a criminal organization.

Drago killed the man who raised him and Kris. After a dispute, Drago killed him and ran away, leaving Kris to run the family's martial arts school. Kris wants to confront her brother and find some sort of closure with him. Preston is an Australian cop visiting the LAPD as an observer. He stumbles on a couple of crooked cops getting paid off by Drago's second in command, Rita. One of the cops gets greedy and demands more money and is quickly killed. Preston is framed for the murder but a kid caught the entire thing on video. This tape that could clear Preston changes hands a lot, finally ending up in the hands of Drago.A fight to the finish will determine who gets it.

The motivation of the characters is flimsy at best. Kris could easily just call up her brother, meet for dinner and get everything off her chest. The frame-up of Preston is weak at best. The case against him probably wouldn't have even made it to court. And at the end, the tape is 'destroyed' by pulling it from it's casing. Instead of retrieving the loose tape and taking it to a video lab, Preston decides to go on the run from the law. Not very believable.

Aside from the big plot holes, the movie does hold it's own. This is mainly because of the fight scenes. Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton are both in good form and the action moves along at a nice even pace. One interesting thing is that about 2/3's into the film Preston gets shot in the leg. This wound doesn't seem to hamper his fighting ability(or running speed) at all. He doesn't even pass out from blood loss after 30 minutes of running, jumping and kicking with a bullet wound in his thigh. Amazing.

The second underlying theme is 'Women in Positions of Power'. Rage and Honor has three strong female roles. Kris(Cynthia Rothrock), Hannah(Alex Datcher), and Rita(Terri Treas) (four if you count the police chief, played by Catherine Bach). Kris is immediatly set up as a strong independent woman. After leaving the school where she teaches high school kids, she is attacked by 3 men at an ATM. She easily beats them, without even putting forth much effort. Instances throughout the film show Kris taking charge and being in control around men. She shows up a tough talking cop in a training session. She practically leads Preston around by the nose. When they get captured, she takes charge again to regain their freedom. Hannah controls a gang of women who are a major force in the L.A. criminal world. Her gang is made up of all types of women. From business women in suits to the generic tough girl type. When Hannah gets control of the tape, she uses it to flaunt her control over Preston. and even Drago. When Preston taunts her by not taking her seriously because she's a woman, she doesn't back down or try to placate him. Instead, she shoots him in the leg. Drago's girlfriend Rita is another strong female force in this film. Drago is actually merely a figure-head for the organization while Rita is the one who actually runs it. Like Hannah, when her authority is challenged by a man, she reacts violently. And example is when one the the cops she is paying off demands more money, and in the process he insults her and she doesn't hesitate to shoot him in the head. When Hannah gains control of the tape, Rita is the one to negotiate for it, not Drago. At the climax of the movie, she has Drago fight for her, essentially using him as a soldier while she commands from a safe vantage point.

There are virtually no strong male characters in this movie to compare to the women. The men are portrayed as either weak, ignorant, stupid or easily controllable. Preston sees women as the weaker sex, even after he is captured, caged, framed, and laughed at by them. The two crooked cops are little more then buffoons. Baby, an informant, is a barely stable homeless man who can't cope with reality. And Drago, the main villian, is only a puppet whose strings are pulled by Rita.

The film doesn't allow these woman to reach their full potential though. Each woman is shown to actually be powerless in society. Kris is beaten by her brother Drago in a fight, only to have a tired and wounded Preston to finish the fight for her. Hannah's power is relegated to the criminal underworld. When she is shown in the regular world, she seems clownish, wielding FALSE power. Rita needs men to fight her battles for her. She can only stand in the sidelines hoping for the best. She has no control over the outcome.

This is Rage and Honor's biggest flaw. The movie builds up these women only to tear them down. They aren't even brought down by equal or superior adversaries, but by the same men the movie portrays as weak.

The third theme in Rage and Honor is 'Man vs Woman'. Throughout the film the two protagonists, Kris and Preston, are in competition with each other. The film quickly sets the two up as equals in a very well done scene that cuts between Kris fighting attackers at an ATM and Preston fighting thugs in an alley. Throughout the movie, the two are pitted against each other in different ways. They fight together against a gang of women with Kathy easily handling her half of the battle while Preston struggles with his part. They actually fight against each other in Hannah's lair, although Preston is handicapped with a shot to the leg. Kris beats on him until he overcomes his disdain for fighting women. Although the fight is never resolved the two seemed evenly matched, even though Preston claimed he was holding back. They both fight Drago in the end and Preston beats him after Kris is defeated, but it could be said that Kris softened up Drago for Preston.

The film seems to be saying that when it comes down to it, men are better than women. Why it takes this stance is puzzling, given that all through the film, Kris is just as good, if not better, than Preston at most things. Its as if the movie got cold feet at the end, afraid to have a strong woman triumphing over a man, even if that man is the bad guy. Instead, a substitute male is brought in to adhere to past standards.

Like I said before, Rage and Honor is a deep film.

Last update : 07-06-2006 18:51

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