Review: Kickboxer: Retaliation

Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi) is back and an undefeated MMA fighter married to Liu (Sara Malakul Lane), after having avenged his brother’s death in the previous film. This time out, federal agents nab Kurt for the death of Tong Po in the illegal tournament of the first film. In reality, they’re corrupt goons hired by a Thai-based mob boss named Thomas Moore (Christopher Lambert), who has Kurt thrown into a Bangkok prison so that he can collide with the ginormous Mongkut (The Mountain himself, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson). When the promise of Kurt’s freedom from prison proves not enough incentive for him to fight, Moore kidnaps Liu. Meanwhile, Kurt reunites with his blind Muay Thai mentor Mr. Durand (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who has been imprisoned over the Tong Po fight. Sam Medina returns as antagonising little pissant Crawford, whilst Mike Tyson plays another prisoner.

A substantial improvement over the just OK “Kickboxer: Vengeance”, this occasionally insane 2018 martial-arts flick from writer-director Dimitri Logothetis (co-writer of the previous film) gets all of the important things right. Yeah, some of the story elements are sloppily handled, and Sara Malakul Lane still comes across as acting-challenged, but I didn’t watch the film expecting anything spectacular of either of those things anyway. The movie features Mike Tyson and Christopher Lambert after all.

The opening skirmish inside and on top of a train in the rain (not in Spain, sadly) is some kinda Wong Kar-Wai meets James Bond nonsense…and somehow manages to be enjoyable. It’s a pretty good sign of what’s to come. The “Raid”-esque camerawork doesn’t quite do the job it’s aiming to, and undercuts the fun a little. That said, I did enjoy how every fight scene is shot in completely different fashion, one is even shot in Day-Glo for crying out loud. It's cool. Alain Moussi is a fine arse-kicker and a slightly better actor than he was in the previous film. Having said that, he does a lot more kicking than talking this time which helps enormously. His final fight with The Mountain from “Game of Thrones” is a really enjoyable David vs. Super-Goliath battle that keeps topping itself the longer it goes on. Although I’m not entirely certain I can say anyone here gives a legitimately good performance, several of the cast members certainly do stand out for not negative reasons. Jean-Claude Van Damme isn’t required to do much of the physical activities in the film, and he looks like shit as usual. However, the latter once again works in his favour as an actor. The guy clearly knows what is best for him as a performer on screen nowadays and mostly sticks to it. He gives a rather oddball performance behind sunglasses and a panama hat. It’s something of a blend between goofy and cool, I can’t quite explain it but you can’t keep your eyes off him. He really is a more compelling presence on screen than in his younger days, I have to say. One of the acting standouts of the previous film, Sam Medina returns and is even more punchable in this. He’s an entertainingly annoying presence whenever featured. Christopher Lambert is terrible and wooden as always, but…less wooden than usual and actually quite amusing as the bad guy. Playing the villain allows him a chance to do more than rigid stoicism and ham it up, which he doesn’t suck at I have to say.

Look, I’m not going to defend or endorse Mike Tyson as a human being, though this giddy, happy version of Tyson in recent years is certainly preferable to the convicted rapist and ear-biting Tyson. They’re the same man, though so anything involving Tyson for me is a little uncomfortable to come to terms with. All of that being said, his participation in this film is so WTF that he’s certainly…something. Endearing maybe. No, that can’t be right. I don’t know. All I do know is I found him oddly compelling to watch here, and at one point he legitimately spouts the line ‘The strongest man doesn’t always win, but the smartest does’. Mike. Fucking. Tyson. Says. That. Yeah.

Although some of the flaws of the previous film are still present here, they are less problematic than last time. I’m not sure I can credibly call this a good film, but it’s a very entertaining entry into the subgenre and the cast, if not accomplished thespians, are certainly a colourful and interesting bunch. I actually enjoyed this.

Rating: B-