Notable Cast: Alain Moussi, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dave
Bautista, Sara Malakul Lane, Gina Carano, Georges St. Pierre, Darren Shahlavi
As the remake and reboot train keeps chugging along, it’s
going to continually reap the benefits of nostalgia for a lot of properties.
For those of us that love the originals, we can only hope that they honor and
recreate the same heart while giving us something decently fresh while doing
so. Such is the case with the latest nostalgia-trip-reimagined Kickboxer: Vengeance. Don’t let the
fancy new subtitle fool you, this is not a sequel to overlooked action
franchise of yesteryear. Vengeance is
a remake of the original Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle that set him on a road
for stardom. In many ways, it’s one of those remakes that works because it
understands why the original worked and retains that while bringing something
different to the table at the same time. I’d be lying if I said that Kickboxer: Vengeance is a great film, at
least in classical critiquing standards, but it’s also a film that inherently
knows what it is and delivers on such promises. Perhaps it was my generally
negative attitude going into the film, but Vengeance
came out as something pleasantly surprising as a modern action flick.