You know exactly what you are getting with Kickboxer

Rating: 6/10 (5 June 2020)

Kickboxer is your typical hand-to-hand combat revenge story; Jean-Claude Van Damme's Rocky IV. The opening act gives us the tragedy, and the menacing and indestructible villain (Tong Po) that our hero must conquer. The middle section is dominated by one training scene after another and finally the film concludes with the big fight to settle the score. It should not come as a surprise to anymore that the acting is really bad across the board. Van Damme, who at the time was still very much wet behind the years and would improve marginally during his career, does not emote any real emotion or any semblance of believability in his performance. Throw in some 80's music, cheesy dialogue, a couple of funny moments and some nice shots of Thailand and you got yourself Kickboxer, a take it or leave it proposition. If you do not mind all of the cheesiness, highly predictable plot and bad acting, then you will most likely enjoy the film. For everyone else, stay away, because this is most likely going to bore or annoy you.