Directed by:
John StockwellCinematography:
Mateo LondonoComposer:
Adam DornCast:
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Georges St-Pierre, Dave Bautista, Gina Carano, Alain Moussi, Darren Shahlavi, Sara Malakul Lane, Divine Prince Ty Emmecca (more)Plots(1)
Jean-Claude Van Damme returns for a new chapter in the adrenaline charged Kickboxer legacy. Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi) has always been there for his brother, Eric (Darren Shahlavi), who's known in the martial arts world as a modern-day warrior. But when the ruthless and undefeated fighter Tong Po (David Bautista) brutally ends Eric's life in a no-holds-barred match in Thailand, Kurt devotes himself to training with a master (Van Damme) in a quest for redemption... and revenge. Featuring MMA champions Georges St-Pierre, Gina Carano, Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum, Kickboxer: Vengeance delivers a one-two punch of jaw dropping fights and death defying stunts. (RLJ Entertainment)
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Reviews (4)
Who would have thought that Jean Claude van Damme would act in a story that is nearly identical to the original Kickboxer and the he would take the part of the spiritual mentor? He, who 20 years ago was such a young gun, which was why I liked him so much. But now? He speaks as if he wasn’t even himself. On top of that, he keeps wearing his shades the entire movie and he doesn’t take them off even in the darkest corner of Asia. Doesn’t he feel lame? Dave Bautista was a worthy adversary and Alain Moussi was quite OK as well. You see, during Van Damme’s training several situations from the original movie were repeated during which I got quite used to the young guy from Gabon. Fortunately, the authors added some new stuff as well, which made the film at least a bit original. They didn’t even totally botch up the action scenes. So in the end the worst thing about this film was having to look at Jean Claude wearing his black Ray-Bans.
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It's a shame that this is just a remake of the original film, where JCVD played the lead role. He indeed has a main role in this film too, where he portrays the one who teaches Eric Sloane the best kickboxing to be able to defeat Tong Po. The plot has only slight changes; it's okay, but the original is the original.
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in the 90s Kickboxer was a hit and the fight movie of my childhood. I was curious about the remake, the trailer looked good, but unfortunately it didn't work out too well. The protagonist is not likeable enough, I didn’t like Jean-Claude Van Damme, I found him annoying, only Dave Bautista is great. The fights don't have enough grit, there is a lot of editing, but luckily the camera doesn't move, so it’s not that big an issue, but you don’t feel the grit and rawness like in other action movies, so you don’t cheer or experience the fights, which is a shame. I wasn't bored, it was easy to watch without pause, but nowadays this won't stand a chance. 50%
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Kickboxer with Van Damme was stupid but fun. Kickboxer: Vengeance is stupid (even though it pretends not to be) and not fun. A pointless reboot that tries in vain to update its 80’s predecessor for contemporary audiences. They apparently figured that Kickboxer's stupidly unrealistic plot sucked, so they cut it down to the bare minimum (yet still stick to it so as not to offend fans) and filled in the remaining gaps with longer action sequences, in an obvious attempt to make it less stupid (which it isn't) and more kickass (which it also isn't). Everything happens fast, with no tension or foreplay, to leave as much time as possible for action. Nothing against it, though, if the action wasn't so dull. Oh well, the underwater bike ride involving draft oxen as part of the training was cool in a bizarre way, but other than that, nothing stuck in my mind at all. The film is supposedly full of famous fighters I've never heard of, so it has absolutely no meaning to me (and quite possibly most other viewers). So the attempt at a poorer version of The Expendables (see also the poster) didn't really work out. Van Damme returns, but unfortunately in a different role. Plus, he's partly dubbed by someone trying to imitate his French accent. I was surprised that the film was directed by John Stockwell, an actor (e.g. from Top Gun) who kicked off his directing career with the positively received drama Crazy/Beautiful. With this, he completely drowned it in the deepest B-movie sewers.
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