A rare type of movie....

Rating: 7/10 (8 July 2017)

Quite a lot of martial arts movies I've watched in the past have all committed the same offence, no plot, or a plot that could only be described as absurd and unrealistic. Kickboxer however is different, its story-line is plausible and makes sense, yes it maybe a little textbook but it makes for a good story. JCVD as Kurt Sloane, the little brother out for revenge plays the part really well, and you can see his character and training develop as the movie goes on. The antagonist, Tong Po is also done really well by Michel Qissi, who instead of being just an opponent for the main character, displays some genuine villainous traits so you have a real reason for not liking him. As a follower of Muay Thai, I found the fighting scenes to be somewhat unrealistic and OTT, like the Rocky movies, likewise the severity of the injuries the characters seemed to recover amazingly quickly from, also the movies depiction of Thailand itself wasn't something I agreed with but its a movie, not a travel documentary. All in all I'd say this movie is worth owning and worth a watch if you like both martial arts and coming of age movies.