I didn’t think I’d be back so soon, but plan changes this afternoon gave me some free time to squander. And what better way than by watching a film.
I should have picked a better film. But plans are plans and Kickboxer 2: The Road Back was next in line after Kickboxer.
It’s hard to imagine a more one dimensional film than the first Kickboxer, but it had a couple of things going for it that this sequel absolutely does not.
The original Kickboxer had JCVD. I thought he was in this second one too, but this one only features the original Sloan brothers as brief newspaper clippings at the beginning of the film, and they earn a couple of brief mentions throughout the film. The main character in Kickboxer 2 is the hitherto secret third Sloan brother, and his douchebag sparring partner and friend.
The original Kickboxer also had some footage in Thaliand with some nice wats. This one is set in bleak LA, with most of the footage being inside a gym or fighting arena.
The final fight scene isn’t set anywhere impressive like the original fight between Kurt and Tong Po. It’s in an empty arena, being filmed, if I’ve understood it correctly, to broadcast for the underground fight scene in Thailand where Tong Po is going to kill the final Sloan brother. (Spoiler: he doesn’t).
The decision to show nearly all of the final fight scene in slow motion sucks. The lighting sucks. The film stock sucks. The audio sucks. The story sucks.
The only good bit about this movie, really, is Brian Austin Green who is in it for about a minute at the beginning of the film as the kid who doubts David Sloane’s abilities.
One and a half stars. At most.
