Kickboxer La Venganza

'KICKBOXER: VENGEANCE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A reboot/remake to the 1989 cult classic martial arts flick, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Van Damme returns to play the central character's mentor, while stuntman (turned martial arts actor) Alain Moussi stars in the film, as Kurt Sloane (the role that Van Damme played in the original movie). The story is once again about kick boxer Kurt Sloane wanting revenge for his brother's brutal beating, at the hands of a lethal Muay Thai champion. The film also costars WWE star (turned actor) Dave Bautista, Gina Carano (a former MMA star, turned actress), Georges St-Pierre (a former MMA star, turned actor), Sara Malakul Lane (a Thai model, turned actress) and the late Darren Shahlavi (a former stuntman, turned late martial arts actor). It was directed by actor, turned director, John Stockwell; who's directed such other B-movie cult classics as 'BLUE CRUSH', 'INTO THE BLUE' and 'IN THE BLOOD' (also starring Carano). The script was written by Dimitri Logothetis (who also co-wrote and directed the 2014 martial arts flick 'WINGS OF THE DRAGON'; also starring Moussi), and first time screenwriter Jim McGrath. The film received a direct to Video on Demand (and select indie theaters) release, and it's received mixed reviews from fans. Although it's extremely cheesy, I enjoyed it.

After winning the World Karate Championship, Eric Sloane (Shahlavi) accepts a generously paid offer to travel to Thailand; and compete in an underground fight there. Eric's brother Kurt (Moussi) is extremely worried about the fight, and he attempts to talk his brother out of it. After Eric doesn't listen to him, Kurt travels to Thailand to watch the fight; and he arrives just in time to see his brother brutally murdered (in the fight) by his merciless opponent Tong Po (Bautista). Kurt then wants revenge, and he asks his brother's mentor there, Master Durand (Van Damme), to train him. Durand reluctantly agrees.

The movie is pretty amateurish and cheesy; I'm actually amazed it was funded with a $17 million budget. Stockwell has made much better looking films than this, and so have several of the actors (Van Damme, Bautista, Carano, etc.). Still it is a great homage to the very cheesy, and extremely amateurish, original (which I'm a big fan of); and it's great that they got Van Damme to finally come back to the series (which has spawned multiple other sequels before this). I kind of wish it would have been more professionally made, but I also kind of like how campy it is. I enjoyed it.

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Though I think Van Damme is all right (and he can definitely kick some serious ass), and I think he was cool in this movie, I watched the original, and I found it boring. It had better and more drama, plot, and maybe acting than this new one, but it had little actual fighting, and what was there was really lame. This one has real, great action and fighting, and lots of it. I loved it. All these people who say this movie is so bad, yet like the old one...I can only assume they're either completely blind when it comes to martial arts (this one guy saying the choreography looks like something kids made on YouTube, lol, are you serious? Get your eyes checked dude), or they're not watching this movie for the fighting or action at all, in which case...I have to ask why they're even watching the movie to begin with...You watch a movie like this for the fighting, why else would you watch it?

Anyway, the story is simple, which is fine, but the directing is a little erratic, and there is little character development, which the old one did better. Had those been better, and the acting a bit more on point, I would have given a higher score. I can do without all the drama from the old one though, which wasn't really a thing here. But the fights and the action direction in any case is great, and provides lots of entertainment. Having people like Batista who are real fighters in real life doesn't hurt. The beautiful cinematography is also worth a note. Thailand is a beautiful place, and some of the shots show that well. The music was fine. If like me you like martial arts movies, go watch this, I think you will enjoy it a lot. If you're not in it for the action, then don't watch it, as there is honestly nothing here for you.

This movie was full of action. I was very emersed in the film, and before I knew it it was over. 90 minutes passed in a flash. As an avid JCVD fan, I have been looking forward to the release of this movie for months now. It was everything I hoped it would be, and more. Although JCVD has a smaller role in this film, I thought it was a cool idea to make him master Durand. His fight scenes put me in a place of nostalgia, as I flashed back to the original film. Werdum, Valasquez, St. Pierre and Bautista also had some great scenes. Their acting was average, but let's be real, they are world class athletes, not actors. It was nice to see a new face with Alain Moussi playing Kurt Sloan. He is very fit, and extremely Athletic. This film is your typical 2015 martial arts action film, and a must see! You can thank me later.

Its Kickboxer what did you come into this movie thinking? The first one was cheesy what did you expect from this one? This movie is all you remember the original being, pure awesomeness entertainment with some great action who cares about dialogue plot twist and all that other crap people write in reviews to sound like they know something.

This is a standalone film meant as a homage to all the loyal fans of Jean Claude Van Damme, who starred in such cult martial art films like Bloodsport(1988), Kickboxer(1989), Lionheart(1990)and The Quest(1996).

The film stars Alain Moussi in his debut role as Kurt Sloane. This Kurt Sloane should not be confused with the one Van Damme played in the 1989 film Kickboxer. The only fact common with these two films is the fact that Kurt's brother was killed by Tong Po. The original Tong Po was played by actor Michel Qissi who is of Moroccan descent. In this new film, prominent W.W.E. wrestler David Michael "Dave" Bautista Jr. takes the character of Tong Po.

Van Damme plays the role of Muay Thai training instructor, the same role which was played by Hong Kong actor Dennis Chan in the 1989 film.

Verdict: the 1989 film had a very good plot. This film has a very simple and straightforward story. The part where Xian Chow trains Kurt in the traditional Muay Thai manner along with all the black humor thrown in, is lacking in this film. Haskell Vaughn Anderson III also played a prominent role in the 1989 film as Winston Taylor, the Vietnam war veteran who helped Kurt. In the new film there is no such character.

Though the fight scenes and fight choreography are top-notch, the fights are a hybrid of Kickboxing, Capoeira, Brazilian Jui-jitsu and mixed martial arts. The pure ancient technique of Muay Thai is lost. You should also know that there is a tradition Muay Thai dance done before a kickboxing fight(as done by Tong Po in the 1989 film when he fought Eric Sloane).

The film has some very soft sex scenes for adult viewers. Gina Joy Carano and Sara Malakul Lane are the only two prominent women in the film. Georges St-Pierre who is a mixed martial art legend makes a brief appearance in the film along with the late actor Darren Majian Shahlavi. This film is credited as being Darren Shahlavi's last starring role. At the end of the film when the end-credits role we see the words: "The producers wish to acknowledge the passing of Darren Shahlavi whose talent and hard work will be missed".

Though this new addition will never equal the original Kickboxer film, you should definitely watch it for the new generation of fight choreography and as a Van Damme fan, to pay homage to him for all the hard work he has done as a fight choreographer himself in his earlier films.