Kickboxer 2 - Vendetta per un angelo

I have "Kickboxer" waiting in my TiVo. Should I have seen it first? It's better to watch something new before I have to save it for later. And yet I could have watched "Kickboxer" and deleted it, and saved the other movie.

So this is my introduction to the series.

I didn't find out for years I liked Jean Claude van Damme. And I was surprised this wasn't him. It looked like him. But it was actually Cody from "Step by Step"--and he wasn't a silly buffoon! David Sloane runs an inner-city gym, and he cares about helping kids who are less fortunate. And that's a problem. He can't afford to pay the bills. He might have to go back to fighting, and a tragedy pretty much decides he will. But he has a very capable teacher.

David's friend Brian wants to fight. And he does some things that are less than ethical.

I was surprised Sasha Mitchell was so good as a fighter--and not bad as an actor either. Now I saw two movies about boxing the same day, and Ving Rhames gave a far superior performance, but Mitchell is good enough.

The real standout performer is Dennis Chan as the man who gets David back in fighting shape.

Humberto Ortiz impressed me as a street kid with an attitude who David might be able to help. I would have been happier if the whole movie had been like the first few scenes, with the focus on David teaching the kids rather than fighting and corruption.

I didn't recognize Peter Boyle, not having ever seen an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond", but it's just as well. He was not a nice man. And one of his goons was much worse.

Michel Qissi didn't have to say a word. He was a real bad boy in the ring. For those who say boxing isn't violent, you haven't seen boxing like this. THIS is violent.

It's not a masterpiece, but if you like fighting, you might like this.

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.

this movie is great it holds lots of memories for me it is written by the script writer of BLADE and DARK CITY so you know it has to be good. The cast is full of unknowns which deliver a fine perfomance for the genre. This film also has a great soundtrack which unfortunately was never released, Give it a chance cause this is a feel good martial arts movie along the lines of AMERICAN SHAOLIN. I own both films and I prefer this one to the VAN DAMME prequel. This movie is good so give it a chance. Also if anyone has the song 'BROTHER'S EYES' from the movie please let me know. I am desperate for that song because it gives me chills every time I watch the film

I suppose, the sympathy for Sasha Mitchell can be the main and, honestely, the only motif to see this second part.

First because the younger Sloan is unrealistic at whole in terms of the first Kickboxer.

Second , because the confrontation between Brian and Tong Po sounds more than crazy like the ignorance of David about Thai fighter.

But, sure, exactly what you expect. And Dennis Chan as a sort of compensation like the so familiar Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa.

But, sure, the simple use of a succes .

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)