KICKBOXER: RETALIATION

US, 2018, 110 minutes, Colour.
Alain Moussi, Christopher Lambert, Jean- Claude Van Damme, Mike Tyson, Hafpor Julius Bjornsson.
Directed by Dimitri Logothetis.

Back in 1989, Jean- Claude Van Damme created the character of Kurt Sloan the archetypal kickboxer of the movies. There have been several Kickboxer films but, in 2016, there was Kickboxer: Vengeance, starring Alain Moussi as the new Kurt Sloan, the character initiated by Van Damme. This film takes up the story, with Moussi taking up his role again, a champion at kickboxing and martial arts, challenged, his wife abducted, he himself being taken back to Thailand under sedation, imprisoned.

Christopher Lambert appears as Mr Moore, an entrepreneur, trying to force the hero to confront a giant competitor, Mongkut (Hafpor Julius Bjornsson). Our hero is unwilling, is often bashed, forced to do hard labour in the prison, continually provoked, involved in all kinds of fights, fist and martial arts. And, frequently, he is lashed.

One of the boxers in prison is Briggs, played by Mike Tyson himself, some fights, but Briggs ultimately helping the hero.

Jean- Claude Van Damme himself appears, blind, but with an ability to sense people’s presence and doing some martial arts moves himself. He becomes something of a mentor to the hero.

Mongcut is brutal towards the hero in prison but he trains vigorously and finally confronts Mongcut for a highly choreographed battle.

This is a film made for fans rather than the general public. Is full of martial arts action to please them. The hero is a strong presence, humiliated and brutalised, recovering, training, winning.

The cinematography is at times quite stylish and experimental, highlighting the quality of the production. But audiences will be pleased to see Jean- Claude Van Damme make a reappearance.