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EXCLUSIVE: Kickboxer Vengeance (Film) reviewed…

Kickboxer Vengeance

The original Kickboxer helped cement the reputation of Jean-Claude Van Damme as the emerging martial arts hero of the ’80s. But 25 years on Mike Leeder muses that the remake edits out its true potential…


Kickboxer: Vengeance begins in Thailand as young Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi) gains entrance to the secret training ground that serves as the lair for the ultimate warrior himself, Tong Po (Dave Bautista). He is tested upon arrival by various fighters including Kavi (George St Pierre) and Storm (TJ Storm) to prove he is worthy of being there, and after proving himself is welcomed and introduced to Tong Po who quickly demonstrates his power and skills. But a few hours later, Kurt attempts to bring Tong Po’s life to an end, wanting revenge for the death of his brother Eric Sloane (Darren Shahlavi), only to be taunted by Tong. he says Eric was a warrior and lived and died as such, but Kurt is just a coward.

But how did we get to this point? Flashing back several months to Venice, California we are introduced to the Fighting Sloane Brothers in better times, Eric Sloan is the World Karate Champion looking for the next challenge while Eric is the younger more level headed brother trying to build a career and future for both of them. An invitation from Marcia (Gina Carano), a fight promoter offering Eric the fight of his life for a very healthy purse, causes a riff between the two brothers when he takes the fight against Kurt’s wishes. A last minute invitation and plane ticket from his brother, has Kurt flying to Thailand to witness his brother’s fight, only to be witness to his brother’s brutal defeat and murder at the hands, knees and feet of Tong Po!

The one man who might be able to help him is a legendary fighter turned trainer, Master Durand (Jean-Claude Van Damme), and if Kurt can survive the training, maybe just maybe he’ll be given the chance to fight Tong Po, and avenge his brothers death. The final battle will be fought before a crowd baying for blood, betting on the lives of both men, two men enter, but in the end only one man’s fist will be raised in victory…

bautista and moussi

It’s incredible when you realise it has been so long since the original Kickboxer hit the screen… and now the remake/reboot finally arrives after a somewhat troubled journey. It was originally announced with Hong Kong actor/director Stephen Fung (from Into the Badlands) at the helm, with both Tony Jaa and Scott Adkins names linked to the project. But by the time it finally began shooting all of that had changed. The film was being directed by Into the Blue’s John Stockwell, and the late Darren Shahlavi was playing the role of the ill fated Eric Sloane and the original Kickboxer himself Jean-Claude Van Damme now playing the heroes’ teacher.

The first part of the shoot took place in New Orleans in the fall of 2014 with Stockwell at the helm – unfortunately the US part of the production came to an end with some very public ‘non payment’ issues between various members of the crew and production, (which were eventually resolved) and the tragic passing of Darren Shahlavi shortly afterwards. The film recommenced shooting in Thailand, with producer Dimitri Longethis at the helm and – according to reports from the set. – Jean-Claude lending a hand for certain scenes. The original film offered us a young enthusiastic charismatic hero who pulls off some incredible athleticism, a memorably menacing villain in Tong Po, a scene stealing mischievous teacher Master Xian, some very cool choreography for both the fight and training scenes, and a much remembered dance scene! I was very excited about a potential reboot, especially knowing many members of cast and crew, but while the reboot has so many of the ingredients in place, something has been lost in the mix, as the film sadly fails to deliver on so much of the promise.

It’s very much a film of two halves. The footage shot by original director John Stockwell during the original New Orleans shoot (which strangely includes some of the Thai set sequences set at Tong Po’s camp, and the finale into which Jean-Claude is composited), isn’t ground breaking but it has a good feel to it: moody and with atmosphere. The footage shot in Thailand, directed by Dimitri who resumed directorial duties for the sequel which just wrapped in Thailand, has a very different feel to it. The Thai scenes for the most part don’t really look that great, they seem somewhat rushed and unfinished.

But what of the action? The same problem… this is a film where there’s at least three different styles of choreography – there are the action scenes choreographed by action maestro larnell Stovall (Undisputed 3, Never Back Down 3) most notably Tong Po’s battle against Darren Shahlavi, some skirmishes at Tong Po’s camp and the finale between Moussi and Bautista. There’s some very nice choreography and techniques, but the editing doesn’t do that choreography or its performers justice. I hate to say this but its some of the most uninspiring and badly shot and edited choreography for the most part, its sloppy and doesn’t showcase the actual skill of the people involved… especially when it comes to Moussi himself. At one point the bad guys use an elephant to block the path of a police car, and then we have some Parkour styled Ninjas flipping over the pachyderm to attack (while Alain pulls off some Gymkata-inspired moves using the elephant as a pommel horse, and a few Ong Bak era Tony Jaa movies that just aren’t shot or edited in a way to impress).

Later in the movie we get a fight that’s been years in the making: a face off between Jean-Claude’s character and George St’Pierre. ‘GSP’ has always spoken of how much of an inspiration Van Damme has been to him over the years in regards to his training and the way he fights, they’ve trained together in the past and – naturally – you’re thinking this is going to be epic, its going to be a modern day update on the Paco (Paulo Tocha) and Frank Dux (Van Damme) fight from Bloodsport, and…. what do we get? An incredibly anti-climatic and disappointing exchange that looks like it was shot in ten minutes and leaves you feeling ‘m’eh!

The bar fight between Alain & Cain Valasquez has its moments, but… the same thing: some nice moves but badly shot and edited. There’s also a missed opportunity to have paid homage to the bar scene from Kickboxer when Moussi’s head and a jukebox get roughly introduced, only for Van Damme’s character to step into the fight and show his martial skills by hitting Valasquez with a bottle before finishing him off with a kick. (Doesn’t really say much for him being an honourable teacher does it?) There’s also one fight scene that seems to have been lifted from every bad TV movie of the late 70’s with…I kid you not, gentle reader… people carrying sheets of glass around the street before and during the fight so that Alain can slide under them in the splits and JC can kick people through them. All we need are some crates of chicken and people stacking cardboard boxes full of polystyrene chips for people to land on, and it’d be a bad episode of… Chips.

van damme kickboxerThe original Kickboxer, for a Western movie at that time, had ground-breaking action, it borrowed heavily from Hong Kong cinema thanks to the input of veteran choreographer John Cheung (who was working on the action with Jean-Claude). But Kickboxer: Vengeance just doesn’t showcase the techniques or the skills of any of the fighters, especially those of Moussi, the movie is meant to be his movie, and they just don’t showcase his abilities. After Larnell left the project, Moussi and former kickboxer Harold Diamond (Rambo 3, Hard Ticket to Hawaii) who briefly worked on the original Kickboxer handled the fights.

The exception to this is the fight in the rain at Durand’s house – as glimpsed in the trailer. It’s on a completely different level: very nicely shot, edited and it feels like it came from a different project entirely. The choreography for this scene is very much one move, one shot, but it gives a feeling of power to the character of Durant, and we get to see Jean-Claude look his most martial artsy in a long time. He pulls off some nice kicks and punches, and you’re left wondering who choreographed this scene and wonder why they couldn’t have done the rest of the action in Thailand like this. The big end fight has its moments as well: it’s choreographed by Larnell, but you can see he didn’t get the time he needed to shoot it, let alone any input into the editing – the fight lacks the excitement and impact of Stovall’s work on other projects. Moussi throws some nice technique, and Bautista comes across as a menacing villain, but it lack the excitement of the original, there’s no sense of danger as the fight escalates from bare fists, to fists wrapped in broken glass, and finally to using the Krabi Krabong (Thai swords). The various cutaways to Jean-Claude watching the fight, filmed some time later aren’t helped by some increasingly dodgy ADR (whoever was providing the JCVD voice now seems to be doing an impression of Sylvester Stallone as Rocky!) And the ‘power’ move that Moussi ends up using just isn’t that spectacular.

One of the highlights of the original movie was the training sequences, where Master Xian put Jean-Claude’s character through the physical wringer, and we get to see JC pulling off some very impressive kicks, stretches, splits and more. This time around we get a seemingly endless series of not-very-inspired training sequences, especially when you consider how skilled a martial artists Moussi is in real life…there isn’t a single ‘whoa!’ moment where you are blown away by his physicality, let alone the way it was shot. The inclusion of shots of a love scene between Moussi and Sarah’s characters into that training montage makes no sense! She also turns up at one point to suddenly demonstrate her Krabi Krabong skills, the same few moves shown twice from different angles, and we even get a sequence lifted (badly) from King of the Kickboxers with Alain doing the splits on bamboo floats. This is the problem, so much of the film comes across as an uninspired riff on the original and its subsequent copies, it never takes the ideas to a new level.

Alain Moussi has a good look and has been one of the most in-demand stunt doubles for a lot of people and projects including X-Men: Apocalypse as Hugh Jackman’s double, Suicide SquadWarcraft and much more. But the way the action is shot in the movie just doesn’t showcase his skills. His acting is raw, but shows a lot of potential and in certain scenes where you can really see he was given solid direction that comes across well. You find yourself starting to root for him, but in too many sequences feel like they were being improvised and without much thought given to them. There are also a few moments in the screener I was sent where his accent takes a very French affliction. He has the look, the moves and the potential and I hope the sequel really gives him a chance to show what he can do as I didn’t think that this Kickboxer gives him the launchpad for a career. I’m really hoping the sequel which just completed shooting really showcases him as a screen fighter and performer.

Kickboxer remake actionDave Bautista has come a long way – from supporting roles in Man with the Iron Fists and Chuck, through Guardians of the Galaxy, Spectre and recent projects like Marauders (where he more than held his own as an actor). He makes for a very menacing Tong Po, his interpretation is a cross between Michael Qiss’s take on the character in Kickboxer 1 and 2, and a more restrained and collected version of the outgoing drug-lord version as played by Kamel Krifa in Kickboxer 4. (Original Tong Po, Michel Qissi, actually makes a brief cameo in this movie and Kamel Krifa plays a supporting role in Kickboxer: Retaliation). When I found out how little time Bautista actually worked on the film, I was even more impressed by how much of an impact he made, and wish he’d been given a little more time, a chance to show more of his take on Tong Po.

I’m a big fan of Gina Carano, both as a fighter and as an actress. She was one of the first high profile names in female MMA, she’s a ring proven Thai Boxer who fought in Thailand before getting into MMA and competing in Strikeforce and very briefly in the UFC, and made an impressive film debut in Haywire. But for reasons I am not entirely sure of, she seemed to get sidelined with the arrival of Rhonda Rousey, and people seeming to think Rousey invented female MMA!  Haywire showed that she can hold her own as an actress, but many of her subsequent roles haven’t really done her justice. For Kickboxer, she’s playing a corrupt fight promoter in bed (at least business-wise) with Tong Po, and she gets some nice moments but could have been given so much more to do. Why even put her in a full blooded martial arts movie if you’re not gonna let her fight?

George St Pierre got to battle Captain America in The Winter Soldier as the more politically correct version of Batroc The Leaper, and it’s great to see him in the movie along with JCVD. I am sure he would admit that he’s not the most polished actor yet, but he brings some personality to the character, from trying to steal Kurt’s money to encouraging him in the final fight, when he inspires the crowd to call him “Nock Soo Kow/White Warrior’ as he battles Tong Po. What’s disappointing is how badly he’s showcased in his action scenes. Thai actress Sara Malakul Lane (who began her Intl film career as Steven Seagal’s daughter in Belly of the Beast) gets to play the supposedly tough-as-nails detective Liu. Unfortunately she is given a character who seems to be incompetent, who suddenly falls in love with Moussi. She reprises her role in the sequel, and here’s hoping she’s also given something better to do for the second film.

When the Kickboxer reboot announced that Jean-Claude would be returning to the franchise, but as the trainer, I think a lot of people thought he was going to play a straight-laced, tough as nails coach, but Jean-Claude gives a very mischievous performance as the mysterious Master Durand. Imagine a beefed-up less philosophical version of Dennis Chan’s Master Xian, but with just as mercurial a sense of humour and a more physical approach to the training. As fantastic as he was as a teacher and mentor, I could never really believe in the idea of Xian using his skills as opposed to sharing and teaching them. With Jean-Claude as Durand, you immediately believe this man was a fighter long before he became a trainer, he used his skills in the ring before moving on to teaching and I just wish there was more back story to his character. Part of me wanted to hear of some connection between Tong Po and Durand, some ongoing rivalry but we don’t get any of that. One thing we do get is Jean-Claude at his most physical in many years and looking like he’s having the most fun he’s had on set for a long time. His performance is great for the most part, although at times you do feel they just pointed the camera at JC and let him say or do whatever he wanted! He throws some nice kicks but there’s a good few moments where the camera is in the wrong place and I wish someone could have gotten him to take his sunglasses off, as he is hiding behind them in every scene he’s in… including night scenes and when he’s in police custody.

Kickboxer - Darren ShahlaviThe film’s end credits pay tribute to the late Darren Shahlavi – who sadly passed away shortly after completing his scenes in New Orleans – and seeing him in the film is a little bitter sweet. The original Kickboxer was a film that had a huge impact on Darren… he could recite the dialogue from the movie at the drop of a hat and frequently would. More than a few times during the shooting of Pound of Flesh, Darren and I would joke about how far we’d come from wide eyed kids with Van Damme posters on our walls, to him fighting Jean-Claude in the movie and me helping produce it. I can still remember the excitement in his voice when he called me up to tell he was going to be involved in the remake and how proud he was of Alain playing the lead role. But unfortunately his character has been given a very short shrift in the edit, his fight scene with Tong Po has been reduced to just a few moves, and several of his dramatic scenes seem also to have been cut back. It’s frustrating and takes away some of the impact of his character’s death. It’s also been very disappointing not seeing his name featured properly in the promotion for the film. It’s a small but memorable role, and the interaction between he and Alain hints at what could have been – his appearance once more reminding you of what a loss his passing was, he looks so healthy, energetic and enthusiastic in his role.

The film ends with a split screen showing Moussi performing his take on the infamous Kickboxer dance from the original, while Jean-Claude’s plays on the other side of the screen. Its genuinely funny for a few moments but ends up going on for far too long, and I found myself wondering if its meant to be a friendly tribute or more of a lampoon ending the film as such. (it would have probably been far better served in the gag reel!)

All in all,then… something of a disappointment, a project that has its moments, mostly provided by Jean-Claude himself and with Bautista making a very worthy villain deserving of a better film too. The ingredients are all there, an incredibly physical leading man, some great fight talent both in front and behind the camera, but…here’s hoping the sequel (which just wrapped) resolves those issues and builds on the promise of what could have been…

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