Movie Review: Kickboxer - Vengeance

Way back in 1989 Jean Claude Van Damme was a rising star. He had already shown audiences his considerable screen presence and charisma in Bloodsport and Cyborg. His followup was Kickboxer, an action revenge flick that saw Van Damme head to Bangkok to avenge the brutal death of his brother at the hands of underground fight champion, Tong Po. That film proved to be a hit a spawned a number of sequels. Now, we are faced with a reboot of the franchise. Why? I could not say. Even stranger is that it was sent the direct to video route and is a decidedly lackluster outing.

Movie Review: Bloodsport

There was a time (probably ongoing in some circles) when everything was an either/or decision. Coke or Pepsi. Star Wars or Star Trek. Superman or Batman. Jason or Freddy. Schwarzenegger or Stallone. Seagal or Van Damme. It is this last one that brings us to today. You see, sometimes when you make a choice you dismiss the output of the other almost out of hand. That is what I did with Van Damme, I was a Seagal guy. This dismissal of many Van Damme films has led me to discover, so many years later, that I never saw Bloodsport. I have no idea how I got this far in life without seeing this classic mini-masterpiece of martial arts cinema.