KICKBOXER: RETALIATION (2018)

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Dimitri Logothetis
Cast: Alain Moussi, Christopher Lambert, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mike Tyson
RunTime: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
 
Opening Day: 1 February 2018

Synopsis: Remembering Kurt Sloan's battle against Tong Po to avenge his brother's death in Kickboxer:Vengeance, we now witness Kurt battling the World Champion. Victoriously, Kurt heads back to the locker room and is met by US marshals charging him with the wrongful death of Po but they sedate Kurt and he wakes up in the Bang Kwang prison in Bangkok. Kurt meets his abductors and refuses when told he must fight against, new foe, Mongkut to make up for the prize loses of Po or face life behind bars. Liu, Kurt's wife, tracks him down, is kidnapped once arrives, thus convincing Kurt to accept the fight. He is trained by his previous mentor, Master Durand. During a day release, Kurt and Durand are taunted by Mongkut and his entourage at a bar. Kurt notices tattoos on the bar fighters; learning many of the men are prisoners sent out to prize fight, Kurt now has an edge by having the prisoners to train with. Kurt faces Mongkut in an epic battle, ultimately winning and leaves Thailand with his wife.

Movie Review:

Kickboxer: Retaliation basically picks up where Kickboxer: Vengeance left off. I remember giving the latter a one star rating and I have no regrets doing so. Dimitri Logothetis returned to the director’s chair in another yet unremarkable, sequel to the rebooted troubled franchise that starred the very talented stuntman and actor Alain Moussi.

After defeating Tong Po (David Bautisa), Kurt Sloane is now a successful MMA fighter in the States until he is kidnapped and forced by a shady fight promoter, Thomas Moore (Christopher Lambert) to fight against a genetically enhanced gigantic fighter Mongkut (Icelandic professional strongman Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) back in Thailand.

To prepare Sloane for the death match is imprisoned kickboxers played by real-life boxer Mike Tyson, Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho (yes, you read that right) and Master Durand (Jean-Claude Van Damme in a recurring role) of course.

Strictly speaking, there is not much of a story in Kickboxer: Retaliation and despite that it takes a whopping 110 minutes, 25 minutes longer than its predecessor to sit through. Firstly, we are treated to the obligatory training montage and then he is on his way to save his wife who is being held hostage by Moore before the duel against Mongkut. It’s one long, long perfunctory fight to another that you need some chicken essence to stay awake before the climax.

While it’s indeed commendable to devote a huge bulk of the movie on action instead of pointless character development, the action choreography remains questionable. The action on display simply sucks big time with plenty of repetitive slow-mo shots and numerous unnamed attackers being kick around. Moussiis a fantastic action star; full of elegant, swift moves and kicks so it’s not really his fault if the editing, cinematography and choreography never really hit the mark. Pity those hardworking Thai stuntmen which really put in their effort in getting their asses kicked by Moussi though.

It’s hard to take Van Damme’s Master Durand too seriously as for a blindman, Durand can actually ‘see’ pretty well. Lambert who achieved international fame with Highlander and Mortal Kombat has a brief sparring session with Durand probably to satisfy fans from the ‘80s. At times, Kickboxer: Retaliation attempts to take things way too seriously. There’s even a dreamlike sequence which plays out like a parody of the opening scene of Skyfall, later on, an awful homage to Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon with two bikini-clad henchwomen as opponents.

This is honestly not really a movie that we can recommend watching on any day. Asian and international fans of action cinema should check out The Raid or any random HK action classics instead of Kickboxer: Retaliation. We heard that the third instalment is already in production but we are definitely not holding our breath for it. 

Movie Rating:  

(Dull and tedious, JCVD and Alain Moussi can’t save this crapfest)

Review by Linus Tee