Kickboxer 2: The Road Back

This film is a prime example of why some sequels discredit the original film. In this case, "Kickboxer" should have stood alone but instead was followed by B-movie reject "Kickboxer 2". The film was bad in every way possible with horrible acting performances by Sasha Mitchell, Peter Boyle, Matthias Hues, Michel Quissi, & Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. Each actor was "wooden" & underachieving as well as overpaid for this film. Sad fight choreography, even worse cinematography, & ridiculous script writing doomed this film to failure.

It's not worth bothering with reliving much of the story because there isn't much to tell. Sloan(Mitchell) goes back to the UKA circuit to make $ for his decrepit gym to keep it open. Sloan wins his bout against enemy & current UKA champion Vargas(Hues), renounces the title belt, & announces his retirement again. Angered by his defeat, Vargas & his goons sneak into Sloan's gym, beat him up badly, & set fire to the building. Badly injured & financially strapped, Sloan endures a lengthy hospital stay. Once out of the hospital, Sloan finds a hotel room to recuperate & wallow in self-pity. A knock on the door presents Xian Chow, former Muay Thai trainer of brother Kurt Sloan. Chow offers to help train Sloan but he resists. Soon, Sloan & Chow work together with great results. Fellow kick boxer & gym rat Brian Wagner(Vince Murdocco) takes on corrupt fight manager Justin(Boyle) & fight czar Sanga(Tagawa) to turn pro. Wagner wins his first few fights, makes some money, & asks Sloan to come to his championship fight. Sloan agrees & takes Mrs. Wagner along to see him fight for the first time. Confident & arrogant, Wagner waits for his opponent to step to the ring. A last minute announcement calls for a replacement fighter who happens to be the ruthless Thailand Muay Thai champion Tong Po(Quissi). Tong Po punishes Wagner for several rounds before killing him in the ring. After a visit to the hospital with Wagner's mother, Sloan learns the truth about Tong Po & his brother's death in Thailand. Angry & in grief, Sloan vows to have revenge. When Sanga offers a challenge for a fight with Tong Po in the Ancient Way, Sloan accepts without reservation. The two men enter the ring, wrap their hands in rope & resin, dip their fists in broken glass, & prepare to fight to the death. The tall, muscular, & ruthless Tong Po beats up on Sloan for several rounds before finally displaying the Muay Thai fighting spirit needed to pound the Thai champion into a knockout. Revenge has been had by Sloan & he reopens his gym for the neighborhood roughs.

"Kickboxer 2" will not dazzle, uplift, or have you cheering for the hero. It is simply mindless entertainment, & I MEAN MINDLESS!!! This film will lurk in the depths of one of the worst martial arts action B-movies in film history. Just thought you should know that!!!

First of all, I daresay that the rating for this movie is too low. I give it a 5 out of 10, which is more in line with the overall quality of this than the measly 3.3 displayed on the IMDb at the moment. It's of course nowhere near as good as the first Kickboxer, but it doesn't have to be. Sasha Mitchell is no van Damme, but he does his job in a way I won't complain about. One of the good things about this is the return of Michael Qissi as Tong Po. This gives a link to the first film and makes the whole thing more interesting. But most importantly, the fight scenes are decent, the plot is not that bad and if you sit back and relax you'll see that this movie is entertaining if you have the right kind of expectations beforehand. Nothing Oscar-worthy, but as a simple martial arts/action movie this is more than OK for a night's viewing.

An excellent sequel to the original Kickboxer. However, what was missing was that in the 1st film, David Sloan was never mentioned. But in either case, Tong Po is back and he's thirsty for revenge. Michel Qissi returns to the role that made him famous!!! Instead of Van Damme, we have the up-and-comer Sasha Mitchell and he is just amazing in his role of David Sloan. Not only does Sasha have a good acting range, but has fighting skills to match. Fight Choreography well handled by kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. And we get the return of Dennis Chan!!! You gotta love Xian Chow...still the same old mentor from Part 1...sarcastic and serious at the same time!!! Kickboxer 2 is a knockout dragout sequel.

David Sloan (Sasha Mitchell) is content to keep his nose clean and stay out of the kickboxing business (Yeah, right) and run a gym that caters to kids. However his gym is on hard times and the only way to keep the gym his brothers helped build is to fight again. Enter Tong Po(Michael Qissi) who is looking to regain his honor after losing to Sloan's older brother Kurt(Who was played by Van Damme in # 1) Suffice to say David will have to step into the ring. I picked up the Kickboxer 5 pack because I remember seeing these on Cable TV when I was younger and enjoying them a lot. While there is some fun to be had in this sequel there is far too much plot that stops the movie dead in it's tracks. Mitchell is an adequate martial artist and okay actor but the role gives him little to do and it's only the well staged fight sequences which give K2 the only watchable edge it has.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

David Sloan (Sasha Mitchell) is Kurt's younger brother. He runs a gym in LA teaching kids kickboxing. Justin Maciah (Peter Boyle) runs United Kickboxer Association and wants him to fight. David doesn't want to fight like his brothers but the gym is struggling. His best protégé Brian wants to fight and even David has to fight to keep the gym open. After winning against the champ, David quits and bad-mouths UKA. They retaliate by burning down the gym and Xian Chow (Dennis Chan) returns to help David recover from the burns and the lost. Sangha (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) has a plan to bring Tong Po to fight David. Tong Po had shot dead Kurt and thereby losing the opportunity to regain the country's honor in the ring.

What's the point if Jean-Claude Van Damme isn't in it? Sasha has just a fraction of Van Damme's charisma. It is simply a waste of time. It also lacks the exotic locations of the original and the fights are poorly shot. Besides all that, the story takes forever to get going. The crux of the drama is the return of Tong Po. That's the villain fans want to see. If Tong Po killed Kurt, I think that's enough reason for David to seek revenge. All the other stuff at the beginning is unnecessary. In fact, they should have Tong Po right at the start.