Kickboxer 2: A Vingança do Dragão

Kickboxer 2 is, well, an unnecessary sequel which unfortunately lacked the presence of the phenomenal Jean-Claude Van Damme. Despite this, the movie manages to be a great deal of fun. The fights are well staged and there is an excess of campy acting which is a requisite of this genre. It is one of many of these types of flicks which could make you cry if you take it seriously, in that you'll regret paying money to rent, or (God forbid) buy it. However if you ignore the lack of substance and enjoy it for what it is (which is very little), you will find that you may even start to love (perhaps pity) the movie for it's ignorant simplicity. Heck, Tong Po is back and in always ready for carnage. Sasha Mitchell makes a decent replacement for Van Damme perhaps lacking in physique and skill, but definitely on par in the brain power department. This is best described as a guilty pleasure.

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.

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

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)

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.