I Watch Films: Kickboxer

Kickboxer

Eric, an American kickboxer, and his brother Kurt (Belgian-American to explain their differing accents) go to Thailand where Eric fights the local champion “Tiger” Tong Po. Despite Kurt’s urging to bow out before and during the fight, and Kurt throwing in the towel when Eric goes down, Tung Pao keeps hitting him. This ends up breaking Eric’s back.

Kurt meets Wilson, an American ex-pat ex-soldier who helps them out and against his better judgment takes Kurt to a Muay Thai teacher. He has a pretty niece Mylee whose shop is being harassed by thugs (they all work for Freddy Li, the gangster and fight promoter, as does Tong Po). There’s a long training sequence, a fun fight in a bar, the film moves through all the expected waypoints. Tong Po challenges Kurt to a fight in the “old style” – in a cave with hemp tied to their hands, soaked in resin and then broken glass stuck to it. Tong Po rapes Mylee to annoy Kurt and Freddy Li has Eric kidnapped to make him throw the fight, the villains working at cross-purposes to create maximum evil.

This is all very silly and predictable. The fight scenes are pretty good and there is a funny joke or two in the training but the whole thing whiplashes around in tone while the acting is frankly poor.

Watch This: For a silly martial arts adventure
Don’t Watch This: If you want a consistently fun time

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