FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Leofwine_draca KICKBOXER is one of my favourite Van Damme movies. It has many classic moments, from the heightened revenge plot, to those classic, tortuous training sequences to the outstanding ending, one of the best-filmed fights of all time. It's a classic feel good movie. This sequel is none of those things and is in most respects an awful film. Van Damme passed on the chance to reprise his role, so we're saddled with the spurious 'missing brother' claim and the resultant film must be one of the most pointless ever made.In essence, Tong Po didn't die at the end of the first film. He's back and seeking revenge, along with some loyalist Thais (a nation cast as the bad guys here, somewhat unusually). Mitchell, playing Van Damme's brother, ends up fighting Tong Po in a severe re-match, but before then there's lots of boring stuff about 'doing what's right', following one's path and all that nonsense. The first hour of the film is boring and the action sequences are few and far between; even they are mishandled. In one ring match, we watch as Mitchell beats the hell out of his opponent, with slow-motion blood sprays and the like; he's portrayed as a sadistic bully-boy, and this is the guy we're supposed to root for! Mitchell reaches a new low for an action hero in a genre already populated by guys cast for their brawn rather than brains.Much of the blame for this film's failure must rest at the door of Albert Pyun, who really is one of the poorest directors in modern cinema. Absolutely all of the films I've seen that he's directed have been bad: I'm thinking CYBORG, TICKER, OMEGA DOOM, DOLLMAN, along with many others. In none of those films has the direction been good. Here, he shows himself to have no idea of pace or how to handle a decent fight scene, often shooting on the other side of the ropes in the ring battles! Sure, the blood and gore quotient is upped from the first movie, but it goes to show that that alone doesn't make a decent film.In one, single respect does KICKBOXER 2 surpass the original, and that's in the casting. This film has an excellent cast. It's a shame they're not put to better use. The likes of Peter Boyle are here, along with Dennis Chan reprising his role from the first, even though he's utterly wasted. There's an early turn for Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as a stock bad guy, and man-mountain Matthias Hues pops up for a match. Michel Qissi also returns as the villainous Tong Po, but even though he looks the same he has none of the power or impact that his character had in the original; that goes to show how Pyun's direction sucks. In the end, this film is a wasted opportunity and time would be better spent watching the first film again rather than sitting through this mess.

Vivekmaru45 A solid 8/10. This sequel continues from the original Kickboxer. Kurt and Eric Sloan have been killed in revenge by Tong Po, under instructions from his manager Sanga. David Sloan (Sasha Mitchell), the youngest and last of the great Sloan dynasty, struggles to keep the family kickboxing gym afloat. His hopes rest on his pupil Brian Wagner (Vince Murdocco) who is a talent for the future and David hopes to get him into the big fights soon.Financial problems eventually force Sloan to fight again in a new organization run by a crooked promoter (Peter Boyle). His surprising comeback ultimately attracts the attention of Tong Po who, having been disgraced by Sloan's older brothers, seeks to lure their younger sibling back into the ring. David defeats opponent Neil Vargas (Matthias Hues) and retains his title. But when Sloan announces his retirement after the bout, Po's manager Sanga (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) hires a group of thugs to burn down the gym, injuring Sloan and killing one of his young students.While recovering in the hospital, Sloan is visited by Xian Chow (Dennis Chan), who trained his brother Kurt in Thailand. Though David initially wants nothing to do with him, he finally relents and allows Xian to nurse him back to health. Meanwhile, one of Sloan's most promising students (Vince Murdocco) has secured a championship bout and invites Sloan to watch the fight. However, his slated opponent is unexpectedly replaced by Tong Po, who brutalizes the young man and kills him in the ring. Now with no other recourse, Sloan is forced to accept Po's challenge....Albert Pyun takes over as director. The fight sequences are competent enough, but he should have asked Jean-Claude Van Damme for some guidance.I particularly like the song played in the opening credits: Suns will set and suns will rise, But I still see my brothers eyes, Suns will set and suns will rise, But I.... I'll always see my brothers eyes...Or something like that! But this on on DVD and enjoy!!!

Bryce Edgecumbe Well, lets get a little backstory in. I loved the first kickboxer, and when I heard there were sequels that didn't even have Van Damme, I was a little worried. But when a video shop in town had a sale, and this was only $1, I thought "what the hell?".About half way through I actually found myself really getting into this movie and the characters, it was flowing really well... I don't know, I am a sucker for B-grade movies ("college kickboxers" anyone?). The fight scenes are a little over the top, but hey, if I wanted to see real kickboxing, I'd watch real kickboxing. For a rushed sequel that was probably only made for the money, and couldn't get the main actor back, so they had to make up some poorly explained story about what happened to Kurt and Eric, this is a surprisingly good movie. If you like kickboxer, you'll find it hard not to have a soft spot for this. And the soundtrack is cool too. Especially the end scene, when that "it's all up to you" song comes on. Pure cheese.I really liked Kickboxer 2: The Road Back, but like I said, the explanation of what happened to Kurt is poor, and the explanation of what happened to Eric (the one with the moustache) is non-existent. We are just told he's dead and thats it.But yeah, if you can get over that, which shouldn't be hard, as they only spend about 5 mins, probably less on it, you'll have fun watching this, and may even watch it again.

MARVMOOCOW ...........sadly this film is not it.While I admit to watching this film several times,I really think that like most sequels to stand alone movies it suffers from lack of a good plot device,when the main character of the first movie is conveniently disposed of in flash back and quite easily at that and a new hero is introduced as a previously unmentioned brother you know that you are in trouble. I really enjoyed the first film I thought it was great,definitely one of Van Dammes best,and I wonder how this would've been had he returned for it but alas he wasn't offered enough money and passed on it. Sasha Mitchell came in as the lead and went for 3 films until his character was unceremoniously dumped at the start of Kickboxer 5 Redemption in much the same manner as Van Dammes was in this one.Sasha tries hard and isn't too bad its just the script let's him down. Peter Boyle must've needed the paycheque and Michael Qissi ( Van Dammes real life good mate) return's as Tong Po the Thai Kickboxing champion. Its not a bad way to waste n hour and a half of your life but its an hour and a half you could be wasting re-watching the original Kickboxer