I have distinct memories of going to the video rental place in Höganäs as a kid. The pinball machines that I adored were there, and I got to play a few rounds with dad. But there was also this promo for Kickboxer as a larger-than-life-size cutout. I thought it was the coolest looking thing ever. I was 9.
A few years later, we’d moved to Australia. Sitting with older friends on the couch in their livingroom they suggested we watch Kickboxer. I think I would have been 12 or 13 maybe. I don’t remember much of the movie itself from that time, other than that I definitely thought I wasn’t old enough to watch it and was surprised no adults intervened.
Many many years later (33?) this poster popped into my mind again and I decided to pull down a copy to watch. And then I checked if there are any sequels. There are 6 of them!
Kickboxer (1989)
Kickboxer 2: The Boxening Road Back (1991)
Kickboxer 3: The Art of War (1992)
Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor (1994)
The Redemption: Kickboxer 5 (1995)
Then a significant gap. Maybe enough for it to be a reboot, I’m not sure, but I’m looking forward to finding out! I’m not hitting up IMDB for details. I’m just going to go in blind. The last two are:
Kickboxer Vengeance (2016)
Kickboxer Retaliation (2018)
Kickboxer doesn’t pass any of the tests. It doesn’t get close to passing the Bechdel. It uses sexual violence as a plot device. Americans come in blasing guns and firing grenades. Thai people are portrayed either as untrustworthy and ruthless, or as mystical and spiritual.
So, in short, the film is shit. The fight scenes are dreadfully choreographed. The combination punches are worthy of an Austin Powers or Naked Gun movie. The characters are shallow and one dimensional (except JCVD’s muscles – they are definitely not one dimensional).
It definitely feels like the fight-choreography was done to maximise JCVD’s bodybuilding poses. These aren’t the best examples of this, but it was the best I could with image search.
There are a couple of good things about the film.
The film grain is delicious in the dim lighting. It was shot on 35mm and it shows. The lighting in the final fight sequence is also really good.
Oddly, it’s better than I thought it would be. There were a lot of things that I didn’t get as a 12 year old.
2.5 stars? Probably.
Stand by for my review of Kickboxer 2.