WFG RATING: A-

A CRRC production in association with MPG. Directed by Shannon Lanier and Mike Möller. Produced by Cynthia Rothrock and Robert Clancy. Written by Cynthia Rothrock, Robert Clancy, and Jeff Gress. Cinematography by Aaron Araza. Edited by Ben Ho.

Stars Cynthia Rothrock, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Richard Norton, Keith Cooke, R. Marcus Taylor, Patrick Kilpatrick, Jody Nolan, Eliza Kelley, Forbes Riley, Douglas Vermeeren, Brandy Futch, Keith Vitali, and Benny “The Jet” Urquidez.

Cynthia Rothrock is back and she’s looking for revenge in this martial arts Western she co-wrote and co-produced.

In the town on Black Creek, the treacherous Damien Sinclair has slowly begun taking over the town. When he kills Sheriff John Jennings, his wife Lizzy, and his deputy/brother-in-law Clayton, he kidnaps John’s sister Janie to work in his brothel. However, John’s daughter Katie hides out with the help of one of the locals, Richard.

When John’s sister Rose returns to town after two years, she is shocked to learn what has happened and immediately sets out to get even. Upon her arrival, she gets into one brawl after another and reunites with Katie. However, her first attempt at Sinclair ends up with her left for dead. With the help of another local, Roy, and a Chinese-Apache man, Xiyang, Rose is nursed back to health and trains with the plan to rescue her sister and make Black Creek safe once again.

Since the announcement of this film, it was met with excitement that martial arts legend Cynthia Rothrock would be doing a martial arts Western. This would be Rothrock’s first foray as a producer, writer, and even casting agent. In other words, this is her passion project and with the help of some wonderful friends, makes this an enjoyable film. Some may complain it is too long at nearly 2 hours, but once you get into the story, you will get engaged.

As Rose, Rothrock is tough-as-nails from the moment you see her on screen. It is clear she is like a wildfire from the moment she arrives in town, looking to find out what happened to her brother, played in a wonderful cameo by iconic villain actor Patrick Kilpatrick in a rare good guy role in the opening scene. Keith Cooke, known for his martial arts skills, goes into a straight acting role in the role of local Richard, who helps Rose as he harbored a thing for her. He has one brief fight in the end of the second act.

R. Marcus Taylor brings some comic relief to the film as Roy, a local whose brawn doesn’t match his smarts. He starts off as a rival but soon becomes one of Rose’s much needed allies. That also goes for the legendary Don “The Dragon” Wilson as Xiyang, a Chinese-Apache warrior who helps Rose in her greatest time of need, acting as both a training partner and spiritual mentor. Taylor and Wilson together bring some laughs as a break from the serious matter of the film.

You can’t talk about this film without talking about Richard Norton. The Australian powerhouse, who passed away in March at the age of 75, makes an amazing final appearance on film as the villain Damien Sinclair. Norton portrays Sinclair as a ruthless businessman who will do anything and that is stressed heavily to get what he wants. We see minimal action from Norton, however, considering their decades long friendship, who better to have his final fight scene against Rothrock?

In the span of four decades, we’ve seen Rothrock and Norton play allies and rivals in many films. Their final fight here brings back memories of films like Magic Crystal (1986) and Lady Dragon (1992) in terms of their on-screen rivalry. These films, as well as the China O’Brien franchise (1988 and 1989) and Rage and Honor films (1991 and 1993), just shows the chemistry these two had on screen over the years, culminating in this final showdown between the two. It is sad that with Norton’s passing, we will never get to see this again, but this film along with the aforementioned films, will always be remembered.

Mike Möller takes charge of the action scenes here and does a good job, even if sometimes, you can tell there is a little undercranking involved. However, Möller takes advantage of each of the skills of its cast. Rothrock gets to show some new moves and use some pretty nifty weapons, from her trademark staff to a pair of curved blades that Roy had custom made for her. There is even a nice in-ring right as a breather between two more martial arts legends, Benny “The Jet” Urquidez and Keith Vitali, that is quite entertaining. There are some moments of CGI explosions and blood that look a bit hokey but they aren’t a big distraction from the action.

Black Creek should be seen for two reasons. One is to see Cynthia Rothrock’s passion project come to life and see the film as a final goodbye to one of the greatest martial arts action stars ever to grace the screen. In this reviewer’s opinion, it is definitely worth the near two-hour running time.

The film is now streaming on Digital.