*Blog entry started on March 3, 2020
I have been in a fried state since C2E2. It was quite the learning
experience. This was an experience that someone who turned 40 during it
may have not been ready for. Maybe movie and pro-wrestling geekdom was
too much to handle for someone who has close of 20 years of aspiration
to make a mark in one of those fields.
It is good to know that I am only 15 years behind Alex Garland. His
first novel was at 26 and I had not even started writing fiction until I
was 27. Since "The Beach" was based on his vagabonding adventures and I
am an underemployed pro-wrestler (I may not be working, but I am
already open.), perhaps my mistake was abandoning "With a Capital C
(working title)" to complete the script for my
low-budget, pro-wrestling zom-com, "Main Event of the Dead". Feel free
to email me a request for the treatment or offer advice on how to get it
out of development hell at russthebus07@gmail.com. There is an order to things that I did not follow properly.
If only I knew the proper order when ending a relationship. I guess it
was destiny for this blog to be hastily put together. It turns out that
the amount of head trips that I had typed up was used up. Should I be
worried about discussing things with about my better quarter? (Eva the
Cat will always get half, but regardless of relationship status, she
deserve a percentage.) There is a good chance this blog will not end up
on her Facebook feed. But, I will not see her till probably after "AEW
Dynamite" airs, so I might end up posting this before "the talk".
It is a new experience for me. My first relationship was in junior high,
so to find out a week after the relationship started that she wanted to
pursue my best friend, that was no big deal. The second relationship
that started 13 years later, there was a lot of drama when it came to
how it ended, but my insensitivity towards her and my ignorance about
relationships were the root causes. This time around, compatibility may
have just worn itself out, and that is a tough thing to accept. Hence
why I want to have talk to her, it is just there are stakes this time. I
am just wondering if it my ego or my heart that will be broken up.
But the lack of communication over and early bed time from her being
upset that she had to fulfill the C2E2 obligations at least allows me to
knock out a movie review for ninetyforchill.com.
The only problem was determining movies that I have access to see, have
yet to see, she might want to see (like "Paradise Hills" with Awkafina
and Milla Jovovich), and what I was in the mood for. Relationship
turmoil did not seem right for any Gregg Araki films.
My solution, turn that to a physical expression of turmoil in the form
of "Kickboxer: Retaliation" a sequel to the 2016 reboot that I really
enjoyed. Now this film was one hour and fifty minutes, so you may say,
why does this qualify for a website that puts a cap on length at 97
minutes (You will never know how many movies you own that end at 1:38
until you enter an endeavor like ninetyforchill.com.)?
That is because, if you were able to establish a universe in your first
film, you get to expand it in your sequels. "John Wick" was just over an
1:45. "John Wick: Chapter 2" was nearly 2 hours 10 minutes. Did we
complain about that? No, because Jonathan earned it.
Surely this privilege does not solely belong to Keanu Reeves (I say that
because I thought "The Matrix" sequels were fine and the extra hour was
worthwhile). Stuntman-turned-actor Alain Moussi has similar limitations
to his acting, so perhaps this is the non-sci-fi martial arts
equivalent to Neo's adventures.
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Kickboxer: Retaliation
Kurt Sloane has returned to the States with his new wife Liu after
avenging his brother's death at the hands of Muay Thai kingpin Tong Po.
Sanctioned mixed arts is his new pursuit, and things are going well.
Unfortunately for him, he had left Thailand's underground fight scene
without the lineal champion, so the reigning promoter Thomas Moore
decides to kidnap Sloane and have him help in a corrupt prison for
murder.
Sloane does not want to return to the underworld, so he refuses to fight
Mongkut, the current champion who is large enough to cut down a horse
with a single swipe of a sword, despite being offered a million dollars.
He may find the prison to be a spiritual place as Moore seems to locked
up all of Mongkut's potential contenders along with Sloane's trainer
Durand. With Zen boxers to learn from, it may be wise to master their
teachings and then take the fight.
Unfortunately, Liu's attempt to rescue her husband results in her own
kidnapping, so Moore has raised the stakes. On the flipside, Moore wants
the best possible, and is willing to make sure our protagonist will be
ready for the fight of his life. With that kind of accommodation, Durand
should be able to find a method to defeat this great mountain of a man.
If you love fight training montages, "Kickboxer: Retaliation" is for
you. "Rocky IV" seems to be fondly remembered for its musical numbers.
"Kickboxer" is just a few Survivor and Frank Stallone tracks from being
an A-List film.
"Kickboxer Retaliation" is loaded with action to pad out the 1:50
runtime, and the variety of the fight scenes keeps you intrigued to the
point where I only found out that I was an hour twenty in when I paused
for a drink refill. You have to enjoy all the fight movie clichés to get
into the film, so do not expect anything new. On the surface, this was
yet another great repackaging of an old IP further sweetened by an
extended cast of fun characters portrayed by a hackling Christopher
Lambert, a blind Jean-Claude Van Dam, numerous MMA legends, and a chill
Mike Tyson. That should sell any action fan to see it.
Now they are going to see direction that features many upon many poorly
framed shots and video game sweat effects. The previous film's producer,
Dimitri Logothetis, takes credit for the direction and what he tries
and fails at shows that he has his hands in too many places. Since this
film does not offer anything new, you have to avoid looking like a
direct-to-video movie any chance you can. "Kickboxer" does not do that.
The pacing of this feature is fast enough, but because it does not offer
anything new, it should not have been 20 minutes longer than its
predecessor. We have changed the location of the violence, but the
"Kickboxer" universe has not been expanded on. I think of the original
five films, the last was the only one to present a "Street Fighter 2:
The World Warrior" vibe, but that was hardly a sequel in terms of
continuity. (In terms of a cheap 90-minute flick, Mark Dacascos
delivered.) That would be the way I would make "Kickboxer: Armageddon".
You cannot get away with same movie different location thrice when it
comes to a franchise of any quality.
"Kickboxer: Retaliation" is an adequate action flick which serves as an
acceptable addition to the "Kickboxer" reboot. It is a very late 80's
action movie, so if you do not expect a masterpiece, you will not be let
down. If you want a "Kickboxer" reboot to watch, I will recommend that
you watch "Vengeance" instead of this. But if only one is available for
free streaming (Netflix was where I get my "Kickboxer" films), you will
not feel let down.
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