Kickboxer 3: Trafic à Rio

KICKBOXER 3: THE ART OF WAR sees Sasha Mitchell and Dennis Chan teaming up to battle some Brazilian thugs in this South American adventure. It's very much a cookie-cutter production, with the actual kickboxing tournament sidelined in favour of some distinctly B-movie style shenanigans and high energy bouts. That said, it's a film not without a certain early 1990s charm, in that acting and plot are sidelined in favour of plentiful, hard-hitting action.

The storyline is basic to say the least and involves a nefarious bad guy who has a habit of kidnapping innocent girls to use in his brothel. Inevitable, our hero and his sidekick end up getting involved with said villain, and plenty of fisticuffs and shoot-outs ensue. The best thing about the movie is the action; it will never win prizes for originality, but it certainly proves to be satisfying. The choreography is basic but the style is pleasingly violent and packed to the brim with mayhem.

Mitchell himself is a wooden, stilted actor and yet he proves himself a powerhouse in the fight scenes; certainly a guy you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of. Dennis Chan, however, is the best person in this, bringing plenty of that trademark mentor charm from the original. The rest of the cast, both good guys and bad, are distinctly undistinguished, but as sequels go this straightforward B-movie isn't without charm.

My review was written in January 1993 after watching the film on Live video cassette.

Third entry in the series that four years ago helped make Jean-Claude Van Damme a star is a routine martial arts pic that benefits from attractive Brazilian location photography. Briefly released theatrically lat fall, the film has better-than-average chances for a video following.

Repeating from part two, Sasha Mitchell plays the uppity hero, a kickboxing champ headed to Rio de Janeiro for a tournament. Once arrived, Mitchell is befriended by street urchin Noah Verduzco and saves his young sister (Althea Miranda) from the clutches of brothel owner Richard Comar.

Coincidentally, Comar also manages evil kickboxer Ian Jaklin. Predictably Miranda is kidnapped and Mithcell is ordered to throw the big match against Jacklin to protect her. A corny happy ending sets the stage for yet another sequel.

Mitchell, unlike most of the protagonists in this genre an actor first and martial artist second, is a very personable lead and acquits himself well in the action scenes. Supporting cast is nondescript.

Champion kickboxer David Sloan (Sasha Mitchell) and his man Xian (Dennis Chan) travel to Rio for a kickboxing exhibition and a payday. He is set to fight villainous Eric Martine next week in Argentina for the championship. Street kids, Marcos and his sister Isabella, try to steal David's camera. David turns around to befriend them. Martine's manager Frank Lane (Richard Comar) enslaves girls to work at his compound and he kidnaps Isabella.

This is not bad for a second sequel to a B-movie without the franchise's big name star. At least, it's not that bad for the first half. I like Rio. I like the kid. I like Sloan and Xian. I like this until Sloan goes get the guns. The movie misses an opportunity when Frank gets them out of jail. Right there and then, he could make them an offer they couldn't refuse. In exchange for Isabella, he forces Sloan to fight in his private tournament where he can make a bundle with his clients in attendance. After a series of grueling fights, Sloan would do the big climatic fight against Martine. Sasha Mitchell is a pretty good actor with good charms and functional fighting. This is almost good.

This is actually my favorite "Kickboxer" movie of all the follow ups. This movie is actually lighter and a little easier on the nerves with the distracting and beautiful backdrop of Rio De Janeiro Brazil.

Sasha Mitchell expertly reprises his role of David Sloan as only he can and I was very happy to see a repeat performance by Dennis Chan as Xian.

The action is good in this movie and the story well written. The dialogue flows and the characters(down to even the most minute ones) work well together to make this a well rounded, well thought out and easy to watch movie.

Sasha Mitchell's character of David Sloan is also more believable in this movie and it is easy to see him as "human" instead of just a "kick ass machine" like he is normally portrayed. I enjoyed getting to see the more human side of him and he displays his great sense of humor (however so subtly, but effectively)in numerous places throughout the movie.

Dennis Chan and Sasha Mitchell are a wonderful compliment to each other and are believable in their characters. I wish they could have made more movies together.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes good action, beautiful locale and good flow in a movie.

Sasha Mitchell reprises his role as David Sloan who has since # 2 become a bona-fide kickboxing champion who flies to Rio to compete to defend his championship however along the way he decides to take down a prostitution racket and does so without hardly breaking a sweat. Did I give away too much by the last sentence? Well let's just say that this predictable sequel is a marginal improvement over # 2. This time there is more attractive scenery, more action and more plot than # 2, which was irritatingly straight forward.) That being said the movie is still hugely flawed. The main problem dealing with the fact that K3 has little kickboxing. Indeed the fight sequence at the end as well as the opponent could've easily been written out and it wouldn't have changed a thing. Mitchell and Chan rely on more guns and while this element works for action fans, the lack of training montage and fights make this a tepid effort.

* * out of 4-(Fair)