User reviews

First off, why in the world do people still think acting and story are relevant in these movies? These kinds of movies aren't released in theaters. They don't have a 100-200 million dollar budget. They simply are made for the fighting and action. Know what kind of movie you are about to watch. If you don't like these kinds of movies, what are you doing? Go watch a lifetime movie if you want story. This movie is like stepping back into the 80s and 90s of action. Mindless fun, and thrilling fight scenes. Those who enjoy these types of movies will have fun.

I wanted to like this movie because the old one was pretty decent. This is just terrible, Kung Fu Hustle had better acting. I'm getting second hand embarrassment watching this.

Kickboxer: Vengeance was a very pleasant surprise. Remakes aren't always a good idea, but the new take on the Van Damme martial arts classic turned out way better than it had any right to. It wasn't perfect, but Alain Moussi made a likeable lead, the action scenes were well-executed and the closing three-round battle was spectacular. That climactic brawl was so good it elevated the entire film and made it into a minor triumph of the B-Movie world.

Fast forward two years and we get the sequel. Alain Moussi returns as Kurt Sloane, now enjoying a career as a pro-MMA fighter and deeply in love with his wife. Faster than you can say "what was up with that dream sequence," he gets kidnapped and sent to Thailand, where Christopher Lambert's villainous Thomas Moore wants him to fight his champion; 400 pound monster Mongkut.

First things first, this isn't as good as the previous film. This is partly down to the choice of bad guy; Mongkut is huge, terrifying and absolutely towers over the hero. Kurt looks like he stands no chance, but that was the case with Tong Po as well. When they cross swords at the finale, the fight plays out in an overly familiar way, matching the beats of the previous film way too closely. Kurt took a remarkable amount of punishment first time round, but here the mauling he takes is utterly absurd. The fight is entertaining, but it re-treads familiar ground, wildly stretches credibility and isn't the nail-biting pulse-racer it was before. Your mind wanders and you may even start wishing Tong Po was still around to fight Mongkut instead.

On the other hand, Retaliation does enough to justify its existence. Van Damme returns as Kurt's trainer Durand and the Muscles is clearly having a great time again. There's a highly enjoyable extended cameo from Mike Tyson, not to mention a single take prison fight that steals the entire film. There's a couple of weird stylistic flourishes in here too that you wouldn't get in the average B-Movie, such as a surreal Hall Of Mirrors fight with two lingerie models and a sequence on a train that resembles a martial arts movie filmed like a fragrance advert.

Ultimately, Kickboxer: Retaliation is worth a watch but if you were blown away by the previous one, don't expect the same thing to happen this time. Moussi continues to defy gravity, but copying and pasting the previous film's climax was a mistake. He's already knocked down one Mountain after all. And the repeated suggestion that he's foreseen all this in a dream was a big mistake.

I don't know jack squat about real martial arts and I hate, hate, hate MMA aka ghey fight club.

But man this is a fun movie.

Apparently there's a story in there somewhere but who cares. Hardly a minute goes by without some kind of fight breaking out. Moussi has some pretty cool moves and the fights are choreographed in an interesting way. Even the soundtrack is big league

And is it just me or is Van Damme the coolest guy in movies? I don't mean obnoxious smarm like Bruce Willis. Or self-parody like Seagal. Or even the self-serious. Jason Statham. I mean, simply, cool.

Enjoyed this movie immensely.

"Kickboxer: Retaliation" is an Action - Drama movie and the sequel of the movie "Kickboxer: Vengeance", in which we watch Kurt Sloane being sedated and taken to a prison in Bangkok after a fight in Las Vegas. There he is being pushed to fight another person for his freedom and $1M.

Since I had already watched the previous movie I knew what I was about to watch so, I was prepared for it but I did not expect it to be worse than the previous. At some points it was like I was watching Mortal Kombat or some other game and not an action movie. The direction which was made by Dimitri Logothetis, it was below average and I believe that he did not reach his potential. To sum up, I have to say that "Kickboxer: Retaliation" is a movie that can be reached only from a limited audience and it's not for everyone.

Set one year after the events of Kickboxer: Vengeance, Kurt Sloan has vowed never to return to Thailand.However things change and whilst he is preparing for an MMA title fight, he is drugged and wakes up in a Thailand prison. His captors give him a choice (if you can call it a choice) they want him to face a colossus named Mongkut and in return, Kurt Sloan will get $2million dollars and win his freedom from the prison hell hole..

If he doesn't fight then his wife will die at the hands of her captors. With no real choice to make Kurt Sloan has no other choice but to undergo his most rigorous training yet, under some very unexpected mentors, in order to take on this dreaded opponent.



Kickboxer:Retaliation is a fantastic addition to the Kickboxer franchise and a great addition to martial art feature films altogether. With great set pieces including a glorious several minute single take that takes place in the prison, the choreography is top notch for this franchise that began life in 1989 with the Jean Claude Van Damme starring hit. With exotic Thailand locations, fiery fight scenes and some stupendous stunt-work, Kickboxer:Retaliation is a no- holds barred-brutal when it needs to be, film featuring some of the mosst athletic and well trained stunt performers since The Raid..

I was a little concerned when the plot was set up that the final 'boss fight' between Mongkut would be a blink and you miss it sort of third act set piece, however I was dead wrong.The finale that will make your eyes water and your muscles ache and whilst I didn't have a clock to check to see how long the fight ran for. It definitely seemed to run for a while but never, even for a second becoming tiring to watch.

I will confess that I haven't seen Kickboxer:Vengeance however this made virtually no difference to my viewing experience when watching Retaliation and aside from a couple of mentions along the line of 'Oh I haven't seen you since....' This film stands alone just as well as Im sure it stands as part of the running saga.

Alain Moussi plays the role of Kurt Sloan wonderfully and is able to show a humanity one moment, and thro someone through a window the next with perfection. Along for the co star list in Kickboxer Retaliation is Mike Tyson as Briggs, who I have to say is fantastic in the role and does get a chance to show that he still has what it takes to put someone lights out super fast. Also joining the films cast is original Kickboxer himself Jean Claude Van Damme (who also appeared in Kickboxer Vengance) however this time, and heres the kicker (no pun intended) He is a blind kickboxer and still a damn fine one at that.

The idea behind Kickboxer was exhausted after the first film and the demonstration of this is this pitiful film. Our hero will once again have to do what he doesn't want (fight blackmailed) against a rival who looks unbeatable from afar. The strangest thing about this film is that the secondary ones are remarkable: we have several stars of mixed martial arts (Verdum, Grazie, Silva) even one of the best soccer players of all time (Ronaldinho Gaucho). When you see Ronaldinho you immediately want him to be the star of the film. Unfortunately this does not happen and everything we see seems to be predictable and anticipable. Although the fights are well filmed, they do not add anything new.

I nearly loved the original KICKBOXER with Jean Claude Van Damme in his prime, and mildly liked the 2016 reboot (with Van Damme as the master), so it's not a surprise that I had to watch this sequel of a reboot. Well, it was good nearly on the same level of the 1989 original.

When it begins Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi) wins another MMA fight but victory is short-lived because he's kidnapped by some thugs and held prisoner in a jail in Thailandia for the murder of Tong Po that happened at the end of the predecessor. Soon we are introduced to promoter Thomas Moore (Christopher Lambert) that wants Sloane to fight against a mountain of a man that can easily crush him. So Sloane returns to his master Durand (Van Damme) who is partially blind and trains very hard for the big fight and you might have guessed how it will unfold.

I was really amazed that when I saw it I couldn't understand why it has a score of 4,9 and so many negative reviews. Well, the secret is: suspend disbelief and enjoy. The acting by Van Damme and Lambert was up to their decent standards, and the fight scenes very cool and kept me excited.

So, if you are into the KICKBOXER franchise don't miss it, and also if you are action fans, it's a very enjoyable time-passer.

Filthy boring, not even my craving for Van Dame saved, and the only scene I really wanted to watch, with Ronaldinho Gaúcho (lovely scene, 10 seconds, kkkk), I lost it, I had to go back to watch it, boring...

A Mui Thai film of the bad kind. Unfortunately, the senseless beating has nothing to do with the actual martial art.

I grew up watching Van Damme movies and always looked past the cheesiness and mediocre acting because the fight and action sequences were entertaining and provided me with what I was looking for. Van Damme must really need the paycheck. No other explanation for why he'd put his name on this. Where do I even begin? The acting, which I feel generous referring to it as that was unbearable and the fight sequences were more unrealistic than anything even Bollywood has to offer. I didn't even have to watch her whole movie to arrive at this conclusion. I watched the first 5 minutes and forwarded to the end to watch the final fight. Easily the worst 20 minutes of film in the history of cinema. So glad I didn't watch the whole thing.

The signs are in thai. I tried to put it in thai, (bangna) but imdb complains of illegal chars.. Maybe for some people it mught look like hebrew as the signs are seen only very short.

Bkk expressway. I used it often.

One thing that makes a good fighting film to me is the training.. And this film has a lot of training leading up to the Final showdown to the mountain! And Van Damme does a excellent job playing his character. I even thought Mike Tyson Nailed his role. There will never be another kickboxer like the original but if you want to have a good time give this a shot

One of the most sacred rules in Hollywood is never involve the viewer in your business. Yet, off the top, unless you are from another planet, it is crystal clear that JCVD, instead of retiring and opening a restaurant, decided to invest his money in a franchise that one of his own early films unintentionally launched. So, by joining the audience, you are supporting his enterprise, just like dining at his restaurant. The second rule broken is that the cast and crew are having more fun than the viewer. Chris Lambert is not only chewing up the furniture on set, but if you watch this at home, you will find teeth marks on the sofa. So many tricky camera angles, so many twisty story arcs, all to disguise the fact that this is just a glorified Rocky knock-off. This could all be forgiven of course if the result was solid entertainment. It isn't. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

'KICKBOXER: RETALIATION': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

The seventh entry in the 'KICKBOXER' martial arts action flick franchise, and the second film in the recent reboot trilogy. This one has Alain Moussi (star of the last movie) returning as Kurt Sloan, who is now kidnapped and forced back to Thailand, so he can fight a monstrous fighter named Mongkut (played byHafþór Júlíus Björnsson). Jean-Claude Van Damme (star of the original film, and the last chapter), Sara Malakul Lane, Sam Medina and Steven Swadling also reprise their roles form the last installment. Mike Tyson and Christopher Lambert also join the cast this time. Dimitri Logothetis and James McGrath once again wrote the screenplay (as they did the last sequel), and Logothetis directed the movie this time around as well. It's gotten mostly positive reviews from critics so far, and it received a VOD and limited theatrical run at the Box Office, before now becoming available on Bluray and DVD. I enjoyed it.

The story takes place one year after the conclusion of the last film, and Kurt Sloane (Moussi) is now a professional MMA fighter. He's kidnapped by thugsworking for Thomas Tang Moore (Lambert), who runs the underground fights in Thailand. Moore wants Kurt to fight the new champion there, Mongkut (Björnsson), a 6'8" 400-lb. fighting machine. Kurt refuses the fight, but of course Moore has many (bloody) ways of getting Kurt to do what he wants. Master Durand (Van Damme), who's now blind, once again agrees to train Kurt for the deadly fight.

The movie is a lot of fun, and it's surprisingly well made (for what it is). The production values are definitely a lot better than most Van Damme movies. It's of course not as classic as the original 'KICKBOXER' film, or any of the Van Damme classics from that era, but it still does a surprisingly good job of paying tribute to that genre. I'm really impressed with this reboot series so far, and I definitely look forward to the next one.

The flick really surprised me. It contains some well-choreographed action scenes and the storytelling is very intense. Alain Moussi is a great choice as Kurt Sloan. The man is very skilled in martial arts and boy, this is visible on the screen. The whole cast is superb. I really liked the cameo of Ronaldinho and how he throw balls at Kurt Sloan. There are some quality fight scenes with Mike Tyson as well and JCVD is simply grea as Master Durand. His character is witty and well-written. Jean-Claude proves that he still got the moves! There are many MMA stars that appear in the movie as well and this powers the whole fun. What makes the flick utterly entertaining is the almost half an hour long final one on one scenes between Alain Moussi and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, a.k.a. the Moutain from Game of Thrones. This is arguably one of the most terrific one on one fighting scenes that I have recently watched. To wrap it all up, Kickboxer: Retaliation is not a perfect movie but it is more than satisfying and if you are a fan of the quality martial arts actioners, this one won't dissapoint you.

An enjoyable seventh installment in the saga, with a great casting, high-level fight choreographies, and a fair screenplay.

7.3/10.

This actually feels like a step up to say the least from the previous entry in the kickboxer "saga". Not sure if it can be called that, but it is interesting to see van Damme back again and others from the movie before. We get a different director and the action here seems quite well made. Which is imperative to say the least when it comes to this genre.

Long takes, some interesting characters (including one portrayed by Mike Tyson) - and while the movie before seemed to have more star power behind it, this feels fresher overall. Not that it isn't predictable ... it quite literally is predictable and quite a lot to be honest. But the stunts that I mentioned make this watchable ... even the 20 endings at the end ... well it feels like our main actor is a cat ... well you'll understand once you've seen it. Great to see the actor who played the mountain in GoT in a movie ... and he feels like a monster ... like no one could beat him. Which probably is true in real life ... but this is a movie, so there is a chance, yes?

It' better than the previous one..but not good as the old one!!

So I'm sure if you sat through the whole movie you probably won't be as entertained as I was. I fell asleep early in the movie but woke up for one of the best fights I've ever seen in a movie had a rocky feeling to it except the fight was to the death so made it even better so it's at least worth watching the final fight you don't even have to know what is going on or what the movie is about to get entertainment from the final fight, I mean 400 lbs of Muscle.

This movie surpasses its predecessor by miles! It delivers everything it's supposed to: martial arts action. The fight scenes are well designed and fantastically edited. The prison fight scene is in fact, a "one shot take" and contains no "magic cuts" which aside from the rest of the movie, is an accomplishment on its own. Rest assured that Alain Moussi does all of his own stunts and every single shot/fall he takes is real... If your goal is to be entertained by good combat scenes, this is the movie for you. Go see it! You will not regret it!