How Can Film Franchises Extend Their Lives with Other Tie-Ins? However, of course the star of the show is Jean Claude Van Damme as Master Durand. Speaking of Bautista, he is again a revelation here as Tong Po; giving just enough venom and aggression to balance out the cheesy one-dimensional nature of his character. Free (& Subscription) Games for All Platforms: New & Upcoming, November Preview: 19 TV Shows & New Movies to Watch at Home. This revamp (which ignores several interim direct-to-video sequels Van Damme did not participate in) is a bit shorter, a tad more stylish, and utilizes the same clichés a little less ponderously. The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo. The martial arts proficiency of these fighters is great, but obviously these are not professional actors, which is where the likes of Moussi and Bautista come in – as trained actors who also have a martial arts background. He is utterly believable, which is quite the achievement. Your email address will not be published. It really is fantastic performance and where some of his contemporaries often take themselves far too seriously JCVD is frequently happy to lampoon himself. In-Home Releases: November 8, 2016: DAREDEVIL: S1, SAUSAGE … While there were a string of Van Damme-less Kickboxer sequels released in the 90s starring Sasha Mitchell and Marc Dacascos, Kickboxer: Vengeance is the latest entry within the franchise after a solid twenty-year dry spell. Kickboxer: Vengeance is a pleasant surprise with a fun twist on the 80s action film but set in modern day Thailand, and a knowing self-reflexive quality that actually makes it a really enjoyable twist. … “Kickboxer: Vengeance” gets the death of the hero’s brother out of the way quickly. Kurt is unsuccessful, and finds himself a fugitive in Thailand. However, he eventually agrees to train Kurt to fight Tong Po, and attempt to get out alive. Kickboxer: Vengeance is fairly faithful to the key plot points of the original, and clearly holds that original film in great reverence. In 1989, Jean-Claude Van Damme starred in arguably one of the most well-loved American martial arts movies of the modern era, Kickboxer. He effortlessly transitions into the role of grizzled mentor to Kurt and brings so much to this film, oozing charisma every second he is on screen. Kickboxer: Vengeance tells the story of David and Kurt Sloan, the descendants of a well-known Venice, Calif., fighting dynasty. Kickboxer: Vengeance is the story of Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi), an American martial artist who travels to Thailand to kill Muay Thai legend Tong Po (Dave Bautista), the man who killed his brother, and world champion Kickboxer, Eric Sloane, months earlier in an underground Muay Thai fight. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. Cloudflare Ray ID: 5eb3aec17defee4c 0. When we reviewed Kickboxer: Vengeance, 2016’s modern remake of the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle, our chief criticism was that Alain Moussi was a bland replacement as JCVD’s titular fighter Kurt Sloane and that the film’s best parts were its training sequences. As Jean Claude Van Damme fans will recall, it was his brother who got beaten to the point of paralysis by the enormous Tong Po in the original “Kickboxer” way back in 1989. The adventure of Sherlock Holmes' smarter sister, The Personal History Of David Copperfield review. So welcome to Screenjabber – we hope you love whatever is on the screen as much as we do. © 2020 METACRITIC, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. Your IP: 51.159.21.239 Rollo Tomasi November 8, 2016. This time around, Van Damme is the crotchety old trainer, although he doesn’t seem to be broken down just yet. The film knows that it is a silly action film, but plays it straight with just enough nods and winks to clue the audience in on the joke. We are an independent voice, confident of our own opinions and staffed by professional journalists. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. Almost as schlocky as the original, but not nearly as fun. In a rare occurrence, the remake is actually bloody excellent, pun intended. If you hadn’t quite got it, by the end the sequence that plays out over the end credits hits you over the head with it, just in case. It relies less on in-camera stunts than editing that renders vague gibberish of the altercations. It allows them to carry a bit more of the acting load and let the martial artists do the heavy leg work. After saving the life of police investigator Liu who is trying to stop the underground fights, she takes pity on him and takes him to Master Durand, the former coach of his brother Eric, who takes him in. Within the cast there are a number of MMA fighters including former UFC Heavyweight champions Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum, as well as former UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (who has a particular line of dialogue which is a major Easter egg for long-time UFC fans) in a larger role. Please tick the box to prove you're a human and help us stop spam. As such, with the Hollywood remake machine intent on gobbling up and spitting back out every conceivable concept that has ever been successful I walked into the screening of Kickboxer: Vengeance with a strong sense of trepidation. The actual kickboxer matters. WWE Smackdown 20th Anniversary DVD review, WWE Getting Rowdy - The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper DVD review, WWE: The Miz - A List Superstar DVD Review 2019, London Film Festival 2020: The LFF in the room. Sure, the new action workout Kickboxer: Vengeance — a reboot of a foot-fighting franchise from the 1980s and ’90s — follows a tiresome martial-arts movie formula. He also enjoyed Terminator Genisys more than the average person (as in, a bit), but don’t hold that against him. Required fields are marked *, You must enable JavaScript to submit this form, RSS feed for comments on this page | Van Damme has been deemed too old to … Kickboxer: Vengeance is fairly faithful to the key plot points of the original, and clearly holds that original film in great reverence. Tom Mimnagh is Screenjabber's Wrestling Editor and a Contributing Writer to the site. It goes without saying that the martial arts sequences are excellent. Screenjabber began life as the desire of a pair of film journalists to bring proper film writing to the internet – with a lot less exclamation marks. Kickboxer: Vengeance. Perhaps only of merit to the hardest of hardcore Van Damme completists, Kickboxer: Vengeance is a rehashed, lackadaisical outing in need of goofy silliness and … However, this remake has clearly been made by people fully aware that the revenge plot of the original is perhaps somewhat outdated and a little far-fetched for 2016, so they vey subtly begin to layer in very knowing nods and jokes mocking the silliness of the film’s plot, and giving the film a very tongue-in-cheek feel but without ever drifting into full-on comedy. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Best of 2018: Film Awards and Nominations, Music title data, credits, and images provided by, Movie title data, credits, and poster art provided by. • Quick cuts and a generically pumped-up score are supposed to allow us to forget that we’re not seeing anything particularly thrilling or memorable. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. It’s not going to win any awards, and it is certainly not an intellectually challenging movie, but if you enjoy martial arts, action, a bit of tongue-in-cheek comedy or if you just enjoyed the original Kickboxer, you could do far worse than check out Kickboxer: Vengeance. A feeling that did not immediately abate once the lights went down, but a feeling that certainly passed by the half-way mark and one that was a distant memory by the film’s conclusion. Now, as an established media company, we pride ourselves on the quality of our writing and our passion for genuine entertainment criticism. In many respects it is an absolute masterstroke that it manages to walk the tightrope between serious and subtle comedy, while still remaining faithful to the original. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. But amid the hoary conventions are agreeable inklings of an alternate sensibility. While Moussi has ample skills as a fighter — and is plenty handsome to boot — he lacks Van Damme’s charisma. When David wins the Karate World Championship, a promoter lures him to Hong Kong, despite his brother’s protestations that the man is a crook. Kickboxer: Vengeance is a remake/reboot of the original and classic Jean-Claude Van Damme martial arts film, Kickboxer, which was released in 1989. Perhaps only of merit to the hardest of hardcore Van Damme completists, Kickboxer: Vengeance is a rehashed, lackadaisical outing in need of goofy silliness and campy flair. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. The requisite training montage is half-decent, and the split-screen end credits replay Van Damme’s infamous dancing in the original, with Moussi mirroring his every bad move. Kickboxer: Vengeance, however, belongs firmly to the contemporary tradition of VOD action cinema, which relies less on in-camera stunts than editing that renders vague gibberish of the altercations. While it spawned many sequels it was never bettered and is arguably one of the very highest of high points in JCVD’s career. It turns out that just slapping the title “Kickboxer” onto a movie isn’t enough to revive a B-movie favorite. RSS feed for all comments, Listen in as the guys review Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Totally Under Control, Rebecca, Over The Moon, On The Rocks, The Secret Garden, Max Winslow and the House of Secrets, Stephen King's Sleepwalkers and the Ted Thunder Buddies Collection. This reboot smartly doesn't try to escalate the material to bigger and better status, keeping things small and scrappy and relying on the fighters to be the best special effects. Home Entertainment News. He's a lover not a fighter (unless you’re having a pop at John Carpenter), a geek extraordinaire, raconteur and purveyor of fine silks.