What I will do is give it to you straight while the last few years of this franchise is painfully fresh in my head as we cheer on the career fruition of its star, Alain Moussi. I like the prospects of seeing him on screen, but fuck it. These Kickboxer movies suck.
I’m not gonna bother going into a long, watered-down analysis about the rebooted Kickboxer franchise… Nor am I going to tolerate excuses about how hard it is to make physically demanding, fight heavy action films. That is simply a given.
What I will do is give it to you straight while the last few years of this franchise is painfully fresh in my head as we cheer on the career fruition of its star, Alain Moussi. I like the prospects of seeing him on screen, but fuck it. These Kickboxer movies suck.
Enter the elusive John Stockwell who came aboard to helm the 2016 reboot based on the 1989 JCVD revenge thriller. The reboot, dubbed Vengeance, tries to build off of the original and, in essence, segues into a world-building affair brimming with martial arts and muscle as Kurt Sloan trains to defeat the man who murdered his brother in an illegal underground fight in Thailand.
Fast forward through the cheddar and cheese of seeing Sloan coconut his way to vengeance with VD waxing strategic in between and we get to the latest, Retaliation. Dimitri Logothetis sits at the helm instead with Sloan forced back into Thailand’s underground circuit where he’s cornered into coconuting more fools, and this time, the man is so nearly invincible at that he can tell you which injuries will occur with whom.
Retaliation does welcome the obligatory moments of torture and suffering but you’re still left with the complete, utter chore of dealing with modest-to-embarrassing acting, writing and dialogue delivery, overblown and overdrawn fights, other intermissionary fight scenes for fight scenes’ sake; Undercutting what respite redemptive moments there are, the action is some of the most mundane I’ve ever seen, and both fight finales from Vengeance and Retaliation had me comatose long before they were over… And that was each and every time I tried watching these movies without crying.
Sadly, we are also cornered into seeing the lovely Sara Malakul Lane as Sloan’s one and only who finds out the hard way that the only place she belongs is neither in a romantic love scene, or on the sidelines freaking out at the sight of her Mr. getting thrown like a sweaty ragdoll and pummeled like a slab of beef sirloin on a kitchen table.
Stockwell and Logothetis make short work of any decent drama and emotive height in their efforts, and they are few and far between, at that what with all the celebrity athlete cameos shoved in our faces. At best, the one time this franchise had any potential to be better than it is now is when it was still in development. Either that, or when late martial arts star Darren Shahlavi was still breathing life into Moussi’s inauguration into film stardom.
That the new Kickboxer movies go out of their way to expand into a greater story and bigger playing field is what appeals the most to me, personally, as a fan of the David Worth-directed original watching these movies. Unfortunately, that’s really as far as I can go into a positive word about this three-part fan-service for martial arts meatheads as we await through the passing weeks per the approach of the forthcoming threequel, Armageddon.
Any and all spirit and originality goes out of the window the second the fighting starts, and it drives me up the wall to see so many glowing review quotes about these films. I struggled for a long time about how to process these thoughts in a more constructive way, but the fact of the matter is that money drives these kinds of productions, and when there’s money, there is opportunity. Creativity, spirit and originality fall casualty, and as a result, no one cares because of bullshit reviews like this, this, this and this. I promise you, at the most these films are tolerable with enough beer in one’s system, but anyone trying to liken these Kickboxer films to those of the glorious 80s and 90s is straight-up LYING to you… Either that, or they need to watch more 80s films to know just what in fresh hell the difference is between this franchise and those particular fight thrillers I remember growing up with.
Armageddon is next in line with Moussi front and center and with Logothetis back in the saddle, and I and all of us can only hope that this production learns from the egriegious mistakes of its predecessors. Beyond that, color me already done with the action movie fluff and fanfare of wasting away another two hours of watching this martial arts fan-pandering, contrived AF franchise try to justify itself. I want to see Alain in better movies because be deserves to be enhanced better by filmmakers and creatives who know how to weave good films together and aren’t instead eager to try and wow me into first believeing that Mike Tyson can act…
Seriously, stop it. He was fun in The Hangover 1 and 2, but enough already.
Get ready for another five tomorrow! ?
Kickboxer: Vengeance is a reboot of the wildly successful 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick, Kickboxer. The L.A. Times called it “egregiously dull,” joining with every other major publication in vilifying the movie. Well, despite this, it went on to gross over $14.5 million on a $2.5 million budget. I do not believe Van Damme went on to say, “C’est la vie” – I imagine more of a string of French expletives followed by some equally French laughter. Point being, in this case, the critics received a healthy dose of vengeance via Box Office Mojo. When it comes to this reboot … well, time will tell.
You can read more about it in James Couche’s review of the film as well as his interview with Moussi while you plot your own acquisition of the film’s upcoming DVD and Blu-Ray on November 8. Read the announcement below and stay tuned for our product review of the film!
Moussi speaks of the experience with boundless energy and enthusiasm. From making the transition into leading man status to going toe-to-toe on screen with the man who inspired him to take up martial arts, Moussi is living some kind of dream… And loving every minute of it.
Jean-Claude Van Damme Returns to Star in the Reboot of the Cult Classic
Courtesy of Acme Rocket Fuel
Director John Stockwell’s Kickboxer: Vengeance has yet to release a full teaser, trailer, or even a release date for the upcoming reboot of the 1990 classic tournamemt action thriller. But, I digress, as this doesn’t seem to be stopping Acme Rocket Fuel and Our House Films from moving forward with its sequel, Kickboxer: Retaliation, with the film now rolling into pre-production as per its new artwork below!
Martial artist and stuntman Alain Moussi who will be debuting as actor in the first film will reprise his role as Kurt Sloan with action star Jean-Claude Van Damme back once more as Durand, and this time they’re taking on Hafthor Julius Björnsson, formerly of Game Of Thrones fame. Dimitri Logothetis is co-writing the film, as well as producing and sitting in as director.
Rob Hickman, who is further producing the franchise, shared his own excitement for the film with respect to the responses from early screenings of the first. “The response we have garnered for the first film, before its release, has been staggering,” he says, “and we are excited to continue the franchise with the Mountain himself added to the cast,”.
Fans looking to sample some of Moussi’s acting can look toward his forthcoming role as Nash in Joey Ansah’s Machinima series, Street Fighter: Ressurection this March exclusively on the go90 app. In the meantime, a release date remains pending for Kickboxer: Vengeance which stars Moussi, Van Damme along with Georges St. Pierre, Sara Malakul Lane and Dave Batista with Gina Carano and the late Darren Shahlavi.
Kickboxer: Retaliation takes to Thailand this May.
H/T: CS
Director John Stockwell’s latest, Kickboxer: Vengeance, is currently undergoing a slow promotional rollout with a few stills and there’s no telling when this will lead to a teaser, but this does signal that things are finally happening. Once more, leave it to stuntman and martial artist Alain Moussi to topline in this, his acting debut opposite Spectre co-star Dave Bautista in a remake of the 1989 David Worth classic, Kickboxer, which sees our own Kurt Sloan journeying out to Thailand to gain the skills he needs to avenge his brother’s death at the hands of the vicious Tong Po.
It was then that actor Mohammed Qissi portrayed the role masterfully, and now that task is handed over to Bautista whose own new photos are going viral in a few promo stills this month. Take a look below:
Sarah Malakul Lane, Gina Carano and Georges St. Pierre also star ahead of the film’s release TBA. Stay tuned for more info.
The forthcoming remake of director John Stockwell‘s newly titled Kickboxer: Vengeance remake is one of the most hyped about films going into the new year. Sadly, the film is not without its share of roadbumps, especially pertaining to previous unfortunate news of its casting and crewing as production didn’t start until three months after its initial September date.
Now, the word is that up to 200 people and their families in New Orleans, Louisiana have been affected after 150 crew members, mostly local workers, were left unpaid, based on a new report by Katherine Sayre, lead business reporter at Nola.com | The Times Picayune. Crew members initially refused go start work on the film’s last day of its New Orleans shoot on December 13 after learning their paychecks wouldn’t arrive as they expected, prompting producers to intervene with the promise of payment delivery last Tuesday.
Among several people, Sayre’s report also quotes New Orleans-based 39-year film industry veteran and SFX coordinator R. Michael Bisetti, who simply said “The bottom line is, they didn’t have the money,”. The report also cites prop master Stan Gilbert who says crew members were now forced to pay out-of-pocket to stay on good terms, even though he and other experienced crew were able to attain vendors’ services without upfront payment.
The report is a bit perpetual in highlighting an unfortunate pattern involving Radar Pictures’ efforts to move the film forward. Martial arts stars Scott Adkins and Tony Jaa had their own reasons for leaving the production earlier this year, aside from Tai Chi 0 and Tai Chi Hero helmer Stephen Fung, who, according to a source formally attached to the production as of a few months ago, says payment was also an issue among some of Fung’s other concerns.
In lieu of this week’s news pertaining to the New Orleans crew, a lawyer representing the producers of Kickboxer: Vengeance explained that the payment delay “stems from arranging a bridge loan and substitute financing for the production.” The report also says checks will hopefully arrive to its New Orleans crew this week, preferably before Christmas Day.
It’s not easy covering this type of news on a film, especially when it comes to business dealings and the inconveniences that follow when it comes to money. Financing may have been an issue with this film for a long time now, which also explains why filming was slow to start, and I sincerly hope this production isn’t marred by any more stifling news. Personally, I’d rather talk about how awesome it will be to see Moussi take on such a high caliber cast that reunites In The Blood director and star John Stockwell and Gina Carano along with Darren Shahlavi, Georges St. Pierre, T.J. Storm, Dave Bautista and superstar Jean Claude Van-Damme in a story full of intense action and drama with the proper thrills any fan of the genre can look forward to.
As things stand however, what’s required here is accountability. The economy is still in a major recovery period while American families are still struggling, and the last thing anyone wants to do is to end up working for free and feeling like their labor is unaccounted for. If any lesson is to be learned here, it is that not only MUST you pay the people who work for you, but do so in a timely fashion that represents your professionalism and commitment to the work force wherever you are in the world.
My heart goes out to the crew this week, whose efforts to help make the holidays more enjoyable are now underway with a newly launched Facebook page attributed to the crew. Subscribe to the page and reach out.
Stay tuned for more info and updates.