{"id":2181,"date":"2024-08-08T23:43:18","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T23:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2181"},"modified":"2024-10-14T11:29:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T15:29:49","slug":"kickboxer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/08\/kickboxer\/","title":{"rendered":"Kickboxer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Kickboxer <\/strong>(1989)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cannon\/Action-Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 97 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (strong martial arts violence, language, brief nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Mark DiSalle and David Worth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Glenn A. Bruce\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Paul Hertzog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Jon Kranhouse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: September 8, 1989 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Alexio, Dennis Chan, Michel Qissi, Haskell V. Anderson, Rochelle Ashana, Ka Ting Lee, Richard Foo.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $14.6M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0If I had to pick one Cannon film that perfectly encapsulates the 80s, it would have to be Kickboxer<\/strong>. For the record, Breakin\u20192: Electric Boogaloo runs a close second, but everybody knows kickboxing beats out breakdancing every time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Let\u2019s run down the list quickly. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, fresh off the success of Bloodsport (let\u2019s not count the unfortunate detour that was Cyborg), as a kickboxer seeking revenge against the enormous Thai fighter that put his brother in a wheelchair for life. It puts him in a Karate Kid-like scenario replete with funny little old Asian trainer with weird but effective teaching methods. It has several montages set mostly to cheesy rock songs by Stan Bush, the go-to guy for such music when the producers couldn\u2019t afford Survivor. It has a few great fight sequences where we get to see JCVD kick some ass and one where he gets his own ass kicked until he turns the tables on his much larger, much stronger opponent. It has a ton of dopey dialogue and an unforgettable scene where JCVD shows off his disco dancing moves. This is what moviegoing in the 80s was all about!<\/p>\n

\u00a0JCVD plays Kurt Sloane, the younger brother of newly crowned kickboxing world champ Eric (real-life kickboxing champ Alexio). The two brothers go to Thailand where Eric plans to fight their champ, a giant monstrosity named Tong Po (Qissi, Bloodsport). When Kurt sees what his brother is up against, he tries to get him to call off the match. Eric, a cocky sort brimming with hubris, assures him it won\u2019t be a problem, he\u2019ll win. Naturally, he\u2019s underestimated his opponent. Not only does Tong Po beat him easily, he delivers a blow to his spine that paralyzes him from the waist down.<\/p>\n

\u00a0An angry Kurt, vowing revenge, looks for somebody to teach him Muay Thai so he can challenge Tong Po to a grudge match. His friend Winston (Anderson, Brotherhood of Death), a former Special Forces op living in Bangkok, takes him to Thailand\u2019s answer to Mr. Miyagi, Xian Chow (Chan). After some initial reluctance, Xian agrees to train Kurt in the ways of the ancient warriors. Their sessions involve coconuts being dropped on his torso, his legs being forcibly spread apart (so he can do those trademark splits), practicing moves underwater and using his bare shins to chop down palm trees.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Eventually, he\u2019s ready to face Tong Po in the ring. They\u2019re going to do it old school or \u201cancient style\u201d. This entails both fighters wrapping their hands in hemp rope which is then coated in resin and dipped in broken glass. It\u2019s going to a real bloodbath. Ah, but there\u2019s something I haven\u2019t told you. There\u2019s this crime syndicate that runs everything. Kurt quickly gets on their bad side when he beats up a couple of thugs extorting money from Xian\u2019s shopkeeper niece Mylee (Ashana, Fright Night Part 2). They want Tong Po to win the match. Gang leader Freddie Li (Lee) borrows $1 million from the big boss to bet on Tong Po after guaranteeing he will win. To ensure this happens, he has Eric kidnapped before the big fight to use as a bargaining chip. If Kurt doesn\u2019t lose big, he dies.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I don\u2018t remember why, but I didn\u2019t like Kickboxer<\/strong> when it first came out. It doesn\u2019t matter because I like it now. I could attribute it to the passage of time which may be true to some extent, but I think it\u2019s due more to its purity in form, especially when compared to today\u2019s action movies. Today\u2019s action heroes are helped too much by CGI and other computer trickery. Do you really believe Vin Diesel is driving at speeds reaching 200 MPH in the Fast & Furious movies? News flash, he\u2019s NOT! On the other hand, JCVD does it all himself in Kickboxer<\/strong>. He\u2019s a martial artist with superior skills. It would be wrong NOT to let him show them off. That he can\u2019t act is completely beside the point.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The fact is good acting is nowhere to be found in Kickboxer<\/strong>. It ranges from bad to hammy. Thankfully, directors DiSalle (The Perfect Weapon) and Worth (Lady Dragon 1 & 2) don\u2019t ask much more of the actors than to fill the parts of stock characters. Take Winston. He\u2019s an ex-soldier traumatized by something that happened in the Vietnam War. It\u2019s a sure thing it will come up again when Kurt needs him to step up and help him. Despite her angry reaction to Kurt fighting off the thugs, it\u2019s obvious that Mylee will become the love interest. Ashana is a cutie, but her acting leaves a lot to be desired. You know what though? It doesn\u2019t matter. Nobody\u2019s looking for Oscar-level performances here.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Kickboxer<\/strong> works on a few levels. One, it\u2019s a good fight picture. When JCVD gets in the ring, it\u2019s exciting. His final match with Tong Po is brutal but ultimately satisfying. Two, it tells a good story. It\u2019s formulaic and predictable, but no less fun because of it. Three, it\u2019s one of those \u201cso bad, it\u2019s good\u201d movies with its nonstop dopey dialogue, overacting and scenes that boggle the mind. One such scene is when Xian takes Kurt to a local bar, gets him drunk and orders him to dance. And boy, does he know how to get up and boogie. He busts out his best moves which involve hand-clapping, shimmying, grinding, spinning, booty-shaking and full splits (his signature move), all the while with a huge grin on his face. So why does Xian want him to dance in the first place? It\u2019s a means of distraction so he won\u2019t notice his master instigating a few locals to attack Kurt. This way, he gets to see how well he can fight. Okay, that makes sense.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As for the dialogue, a prime example is when Xian offers Kurt this handy, helpful hint: \u201cYou must learn to be faster than any punch or kick, that way won\u2019t get hit.\u201d Confucius himself couldn\u2019t have put it more brilliantly. Another great bad line is when Tong Po torments Kurt in the ring by saying, \u201cYou bleed like Mylee! Mylee…. good f***!\u201d This is how Kurt finds out the woman he loves was raped by his mortal enemy. To be clear, it isn\u2019t funny that Mylee gets raped. What is funny is Qissi\u2019s bad overacting. OMG, he is the epitome of OTT villain.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I had a lot fun rewatching Kickboxer<\/strong> this past Saturday afternoon. What better day and time to watch it, am I right? It\u2019s a total Saturday matinee flick, 80s style. It took me back to a simpler time when many of life\u2019s problems could be solved by getting lost in a silly martial arts movie starring the likes of Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris or JCVD. Sometimes I wish it was still that easy. Oh well, at least I\u2019ll always have the memory of JCVD putting John Travolta to shame with his superior dance skills.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kickboxer (1989)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cannon\/Action-Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 97 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (strong martial arts violence, language, brief nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Mark DiSalle and David Worth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Glenn A. Bruce\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Paul Hertzog\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Jon Kranhouse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: September 8, 1989 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Alexio, Dennis Chan, Michel Qissi, Haskell V. Anderson, Rochelle Ashana, Ka Ting Lee, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-b-movies","category-kick-ass-actioners"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Kickboxer-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2181"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3073,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions\/3073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}