The original 'Kickboxer' is a minor classic of 80s martial arts cinema, but truth be told it has aged. It helped cement Jean-Claude Van Damme as a star and did kickstart a mini DTV franchise, but watch it now and there's surprisingly little fighting. The emphasis is mainly on the gruelling training sequences and the physical abilities of the lead, but it does come across a bit like it was riding the coat tails of 'Rocky' and other bigger, better films.
Flash forward to 2016 and we get this, the remake-slash-reboot. And while the word "remake" is anathema to some movie goers, 'Kickboxer: Vengeance' is pretty good. It won't usurp the original's classic status and again, it's not as good as other similar films (hello 'Warrior'). It is however a solid ninety minute MMA actioner, with loads more fighting than its parent. It's flawed and there are wrinkles that could have been ironed out, but for the most part 'Kickboxer: Vengeance' does a really decent job at updating the series.
The film tells the story of Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi, 'V-Wars,' 'Jiu-Jitsu'), younger brother of celebrated fighter Eric Sloane (Darren Shahlavi, 'Ip Man 2,' 'Mortal Kombat Legacy'). When Eric is killed in an underground fight in Thailand, he sets off on a mission of revenge against Eric's killer, the towering Tong-Po (Dave Bautista, 'Guardians Of The Galaxy,' 'Spectre'). Faced with threats from Tong-Po's cult-like following and clearly no match for the giant, Kurt turns to Eric's trainer Durand to help get him in shape, leading to a hefty amount of fisticuffs and tremendous physical pain.
And it's one the films biggest strengths that Durand is played by none other than JCVD himself. Van Damme has quietly been building a reputation as an underrated actor this past decade, from his sarcastic villain of 'The Expendables 2' to the mysterious, Colonel Kurtz figure of the last 'Universal Soldier' movie, but here he really steals the show. He's clearly having a lot of fun playing a wise old bad ass; you wind up believing that he'd be the type of mentor to get kids to throw coconuts at his student for fun, or throw them into a surprise bar fight to test their skills. Additionally, despite being in his fifties, Van Damme can still throw down. He gets in several brawls of his own during the run time and looks like he could take on Tong-Po himself.
Alain Moussi meanwhile is likeable enough as the lead, but he's here for one thing and one thing only; spinning through the air and kicking people in the head. He gets in several impressive scraps but the film saves the best to last. His climactic three-round fight with Tong-Po is to put it mildly, awesome. Surrounded by a baying, blood-thirsty crowd, the two engage in a violent and extremely painful looking fight. Claret flies, glass gets taped to their hands and swords come into play for an epic scrap that lasts for ages and could only be more macho if a Predator turned up. The choreography is top notch and by the end, both guys look like they've been dragged through hell.
Like I said though, there are problems. The storytelling relies on an extended flashback, but it's not obvious where it ends and this is a little disorientating. Gina Carano's casting as an unscrupulous fight promoter is odd too. She's perfectly capable of handling the role, but seeing a highly regarded pro-fighter in a movie like this and doing no fighting is jarring, plus it hints that George St. Pierres' role as a booze-loving, penniless fighter will be a significant secondary character, but he doesn't really do much. Either it wasn't fully thought out or half his scenes wound up on the cutting room floor.
Not perfect then, but as it clocks in at a brisk ninety minutes and features one utterly jaw-dropping smackdown as a finale, 'Kickboxer: Vengeance' is definitely worth a watch. The plot is cliched, but the lead is a nice lad, the villain is an intimidating monster and Van Damme is having a whale of a time. This remake works.
