The "Rocky" (IV) of Thaï Boxing...

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2019)

Last night, I wanted to watch Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet", the DVD didn't work. I tried the original version of "The Ballad of Narayama", the DVD bugged as well. Then I put the original "A Star is Born" but the streaks of malfunction didn't want to end.
Then I said to myself "oh what the heck, let's just watch "Kickboxer" on Netflix!" Which feels like cancelling a reservation to the town's fanciest French restaurant for a kebab. But if the film doesn't exactly offer the same menu than the other distinguished titles, it's perhaps the most likely to be visited again and again. I don't mean that it's so bad it's good, but one should revaluate the taste of these old martials arts movies, getting better with time. Now that "Kickboxer" has celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, it's interesting to note how well it holds up or let's just say, better than expected.
Enumerating the flaws would be a vain exercise but let's do it for fun. Sure the acting and the writing isn't exactly the film's driving force, sure the brother's body language is as convincing as a mayonnaise tube. Sure the Winston character seems to belong to some "Rambo" or "Commando" wannabe. Sure the revenge story is as predictable as a Disney film. Sure the character of Tong Po who starts as a legitimate opponent gets a useless villain-upgrade as if we needed more reasons to hate him than breaking the bro's vertebras. Sure the film is as implausible as it's corny, but the real question is: to what extent does that make it unwatchable?
When it comes to movies that "bad" on objective terms, I tend to remember Ebert's critic of a really bad movie of the same year: "She's Out of Control". Following his inquisitive critic, I watched the film again and realized it wasn't as bad as it was wrong on many levels, especially the creepily incestuous implications. "Kickboxer" keeps a rather clean image behind its simple concept of a brother avenging his brother after he's been left paralysed. I'm not saying any film can get away with positive feelings and morality, but in the case of "Kickboxer", the plot has so little subtlety that one can concede that much to the film, it's got heart, and a good heart.
There's more to appreciate, like the passion and respectful dedication to martial arts and in that case Muay Thai. Once the story takes off and the basic training begins, we're immersed in a territory that wouldn't feel unfamiliar to "Karate Kid" fans, after all, Xiao is a likable character but not far from the sensei with unorthodox method training codified by Mr. Miyagi. Still, Van Damme designed the story in a way that showed respect to the discipline and discipline in general and prompted many young viewers to adopt martial arts as a passion of theirs.
Inded, whenever I consider Van Damme movies, I remember my older cousin and his poster-clad bedroom, he was Van Damme's number one fan, practised Karate competition, and always brought us the latest Van Damme VHS, needless to say we used to watch in crappy 80s quality. And that's part of the charm; one that gives a slight gourmet taste to these films, the sound was awful, the cropping hideous so we were looking to beauty whenever it could pop up. Anyone must remember these old-school textures that DVDs and Netflix swept off, the film looks so empty and bland now that it makes you easily forget the kind of experience VHS provided. You had to stay focused, to get through the film, it filled your afternoon and your heart before you'd get back to reality, "Kickboxer" provided so much fun that even its laughable flaws were forgettable.
And yet for all these flaws, there were a few scenes that stuck in memory, "Tong-Po hitting the pillar concrete, the palm tree breaking, the trick to run faster, the training in the Buddhist temple and one of Van Damme's infamous drunk-dancing moment, one of the highlights of his fluctuating career with so many ups and downs and double kicks, Van Damme had the moves and not just for the splits.
Finally, it's a martial arts movie so one that must be judged on the basis of its climactic fight, once again the choreographic staging shows some relative professionalism. It doesn't stand out like the "Bloodsport" Kumite but it's still the second best Van Damme movie, one that makes you want to chant "Nuk Soo Cow" all over the place, before some random uplifting 80s theme start.
"Kickboxer" is the reflection of simpler times when combat movies didn't rely on sophisticated stories but just stars with enough appeal to drag an audience. Sure it's not a masterpiece, but it'll please the right amount of fans whether of Van Damme or martial arts, it's probably the "Rocky" of the Thai Boxing.... Or le's just say the "Rocky IV".