Kickboxer 3: The Art Of War (1992)

If you're as equal parts bemused and angered by the burning dumpster fire of the world around us then you can seek to find answers in many different places. Art can be one of those places. Films can often provide insight into human nature while maintaining a comforting layer of artifice. Sometimes there are answers, but sometimes it's just enough to see other people struggling with the same questions that we all have. Oh, and sometimes you need to escape reality by watching people kick each other in the face. Kickboxer 3: The Art Of War is here for those who need that last option.

I watched this a couple of weeks ago, and spoke about it on my podcast, but I am not going to pretend that it made any strong impression on me. It was fun though, a distraction that I was happy to experience ahead of numerous, more sophisticated, alternatives. I knew what I was in for, considering I also recently enjoyed Kickboxer 2: The Road Back, and it gave me what I wanted, more or less.

Sasha Mitchell is back in the role of David Sloan, and Dennis Chan returns as Xian. The two characters end up in another country, and it's not long until there's the opportunity for some fighting to happen. There's a man named Lane (Richard Comar) who wants to present audiences with an impressive spectacle, but Lane might have his fingers in some other business interests that make him a lot less pleasant and accommodating than he appears.

Kickboxer 3: The Art Of War is very silly stuff. Dennis A. Pratt may not be the best writer, and Rick King isn't a top-notch director, but both do enough to make this a fun and entertaining, if tame, action movie. There's a crime ring to be busted, some youngsters to be protected, and (of course) faces to be kicked.

Mitchell has a bit more fun this time around, due to the fact that the screenplay isn't trying to add extra weight and importance to the fighting (beyond allowing our hero to be heroic), and Chan also seems even more playful than he was in the previous movies. Noah Verduzco and Alethea Miranda are there to be threatened by the villain, which they do, and Comar does well in a role that is the best in the film. His character is atypical when compared to so many other action movie villains, and that's something I will credit to both the writing from Pratt and Comar's performance.

I admit that before being reminded of the existence of this film I had completely forgotten how many sequels Kickboxer has. Now I'm ready to eventually get through them all, especially when needing a face-kicking distraction from the madness of the real world.

6/10

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Kickboxer 2: The Road Back (1991)

There's something about looking to the past and spending time with some simple pleasures. Whether that's reading a good book without any gadgets distracting you, wallowing in the nostalgic glow of some past TV show you can now find on a variety of streaming services, or sitting down to watch the kind of film that used to make some money by heading "straight to video" for eager and undemanding action movie fans. That's why I ended up watching Kickboxer 2: The Road Back recently.

Sasha Mitchell is the leading man this time around. He plays David Sloan, the brother of Kurt and Eric Sloane (characters in the first Kickboxer movie). And, who could've thunk it, David ends up being challenged to a fight by the menacing and dangerous Tong Po (Michel Qissi returning to the role). That's everything you need to know about this martial arts movie that tries to do nothing more than provide a few more fights for those who enjoyed the first movie.

Albert Pyun directs the whole thing competently enough, and this actually feels like a film that gives him a bit more to work with than he would have throughout many other films in his career. The focus is on the fighting, and it's helped by bringing back characters that we're already familiar with, in the shape of Tong Po and the Miyagi-like Xian Chow (Dennis Chan, also returning to the series). David S. Goyer may have gone on to bigger and better things, but he does well here with what's required. It's cheesy, our hero has an unwavering moral compass, and the fights are nicely spread out throughout the 90-minute runtime.

Mitchell is a bit of a bland lead, but he just about looks capable enough when displaying some fighting skills. It's ridiculous to think of any scenario in which he would be able to beat Qissi though, who remains an entertainingly formidable villain, but the film simply gets viewers onside early enough to keep us rooting for the good guy to win. Vince Murdocco plays another fighter, who you just know is going to receive a major beating at some point, but the rest of your enjoyment comes from watching Chan, the superb Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the equally-superb Peter Boyle, and a small, but worthwhile, turn from John Diehl. Matthias Hues is a second-tier opponent, and Heather McComb has the thankless task of being the only main female character, obviously required to look on as our hero battles with his conscience and trauma on the way to a grudge match.

Not as good as the first film in the series, as expected, and not as interesting or stylish as many other action movies you could choose to watch, but this was more fun than I expected, perhaps because it felt like the shelf-fillers we have lost in the tsunami of constant content that is all just available at the touch of a button. I'm not going to recommend this to people, but I will say that I am much more likely to rewatch this ahead of many big titles that have appeared exclusively online. 

6/10

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June-Claude Van Damme: Kickboxer (1989)

It's the same old story. You travel around the world, supporting your kickboxing brother, watch him rendered immobile and unconscious at the hands of a vicious Thailand fighter, and then beseech a little old man to train you to a level that will allow you to avenge your brother and become known to locals as "Nok Su Kow" (translation = "White Warrior"). Not forgetting to leave yourself a little bit of time for a few drinks and a dance.

Van Damme plays Kurt Sloane, the younger brother to Eric (played by Dennis Alexio). When he sees Eric painfully defeated by the ruthless Tong Po (Michael Qissi), he swears to get revenge. Unfortunately, nobody will train him, and the idea of him becoming good enough to fight Tong Po is laughable to many. Until he is finally accepted as a student by Xian Chow (Dennis Chan). Before you can say "let's fill up the middle section of this movie with one montage after another" you start to get one montage after another showing Kurt progressing through his martial arts education. But will he get his shot at Tong Po?

Like many of the other enjoyable martial arts movies from this time, this is a simple underdog story that pits a talented student who needs guidance against a proper "boo, hiss" baddie. The script by Glenn A. Bruce hits all of the beats that you'd expect, with a lot of good humour here and there, and also makes some predictable mis-steps (the dialogue between the two brothers is pretty cheesy and bad, and a sexual assault is thrown into the script in a way that feels like nothing more than an extra motivator for our hero).

Directors Mark DiSalle and David Worth do good work (considering the filmography of both men, this may remain their best directorial effort) and they seem to know how to just follow the simple script, keep the pace moving along in between training and fight scenes, and let their star do what viewers have paid to see him do.

Van Damme has a lot of fun onscreen, not least of all in THAT dancing scene, and it's not surprising that he would spend the next five years being one of the big headline stars in the action genre. Dennis Chan is a lot of fun as the eccentric teacher, Haskell V. Anderson III is also enjoyable as Winston, a stranger who becomes a good friend to Kurt, and Rochelle Ashana does quite well as Xian Chow's niece, Mylee. Alexio and Qissi aren't anywhere near as good, but they aren't called upon to do much more than look mean and angry most of the time.

It may not be the very best from Van Damme but Kickboxer is definitely top-tier stuff for fans of the star. The fights, the montage sequences, the cheesy/wonderful soundtrack, the splits - this has all of the right ingredients to satisfy your cinematic fast food craving.

7/10

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