When you like a movie as much as I enjoyed the first Kickboxer,even if the movie doesnt need it,you can't help but find a part of you would like to see a sequel.
Kickboxer didnt really need one, I suppose they could have made one following the further adventures of Kurt Sloane and Co. as they battle with Freddy Li and his goons, but instead,we got Albert Pyun's Kickboxer 2:The Road Back.

Pyun, a name you will surely know if you have an interest in B Movies.He is well known for directing,well, crap.Crap like Captain America the movie.When it came up 'Directed by Albert Pyun' I almost cried.

Now,before I even start on the movie, Im going to get into where it goes wrong.There is a quote in Kickboxer, where Kurt, the character played by Jean Claude Van Damme, says to Mylee(Rochelle Ashana) something along the lines of "Eric is the only family I have left".Take that in.There are two brothers,parents dead,no other family.Yet, Kickboxer 2 follows the exploits of David Sloane.Yes David,the THIRD brother.the whole thing was that Eric had went to live with their demanding father in the USA while Kurt was living in Europe with his mother.SO WHERE DOES DAVID COME IN?.The three of them also apparently Co-own a kickboxing gym.Ah, so that just slipped their minds while in Thailand.In fairness, the gym is worked quite well, with David having a mural of his late brothers(I'll get back to that) next to the flags of their homelands,Belgium and the US.He also has photos of him with his bros on the wall.Except it isnt Van Damme and Dennis Alexio, but two people with haircuts like Jean Claude and Dennis.He also has a picture of Xian and Mylee, but this doesnt stop him asking Xian who he is when he meets him.
There is also a quote about Vargas having been defeated by both Kurt and Eric.And a quote about Kurt doing exhibitions.Yet apparently only a year has passed since the event of KB, and in that time, and judging by the way they talk, it appears to have been a while ago, Kurt was killed by Tong Po, while still in Thailand.Now, we are supposed to believe that in under a year, Kurt fought several exhibitions while in Thailand,after a brutal battle with Tong Po? they could have pulled it off, but Vargas? go to hell, he couldnt fight in Muay Thai, David,who doesn't do MT destroys him.
Oh,speaking of dead people,Mylee and Eric both died with Kurt in the same shootout.Lame.
And just to add insult to injury, they turn Sloane into Sloan.

That is all the main gripes that are to be had from a fanboy of the original movie,I'll get to the general faults of the movie later.

Story wise, it blasts like this:
David Sloan(Sasha Mitchell - Kickboxer 4) , is trying his best to run the kickboxing gym his late brothers established.However, cash is tight, and the only hope to keep the gym open seems to be fighting in exhibition matches, however David is reluctant to take part in these, as he has doubts that he is as good as his brothers,and he feels fighting killed them.But when a businessman determined to make Kickboxing a high profile sport,Justin McCai(Peter Boyle - Taxi Driver), offers him a place in his United Kickboxing Association, David shocks his accountant and close friend Jack(John Diehl - Jurassic Park 3) by knocking him back.His protege,Brian Wagner(Vince Murdocco - Ring of Fire), however, feels joining the UKA would be a good idea so leaves David's gym for the lure of the pro world and cash.
David finally caves in and has a match arranged against the UKA's champion Neo(?) Vargas(Matthias Hues - I Come in Peace), who has a score to settle, after being beaten by both of Dave's brothers.David easily defeats Vargas, and openly slams the UKA in his post match interview.Humiliated, Justin wonders what to do, until his partner Sanga(Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa - Mortal Kombat), suggests crushing David's world.Vargas and a gang break into David's gym, beat him up and burn the gym to the ground, killing a young orphan David took in and shooting Dave in the leg in the process.
While in hospital, someone(its not clear) gets Kurt's trainer Xian Chow (Dennis Chan - Naked Weapon) to fly to the USA.While reluctant at first, David agrees to allow Xian to help him heal his wound and regain the use of his leg fully.
In the meantime, Brian has been using steroids and is flying up the ranks in the UKA, Sanga also makes his motives clear.After Kurt,an American(lets overlook the fact he states he was Belgian in the first movie),beat Tong Po, the Thai kickboxers were humiliated an American beat them at their own art.They wanted to set up a rematch, but consumed by rage Tong Po shot and killed Kurt.This has a pretty horrible flashback,where Kurt is played by someone who isnt Van Damme.In this shot, in a rainy night, in some sort of scrap yard(?) Kurt, who is topless is lying dead while pistol toting Tong(in a shirt and Tie?!?!) backs away.
Yes, that scene plays exactly as I wrote it.Anyway, in Thai tradition, if a Father cannot defend his family honour, his son does it.This doesnt explain why this allows David to represent Kurt, but apparently it is the same thing.But, the spanner in the works of Sanga's plan is the fact that Kurt is retired.
Sanga uses his influence in the UKA to arrange a match between Brian and the current champion Lou Lescano.Sanga tells Brian to invite David, so along with Xian and Brian's mum, Dave sets off to the arena to face the champion.However, at the last minute, Sanga orders Lescano to pull out of the fight with an injury.But instead of cancelling the match, Sanga has an alternate opponent ready.
Yes, thats right, Tong Po(Michel Qissi - Bloodsport) fights Brian,Po now sports a scar accross his face, the back of the video box claims this is due to him serving 'penance' in a remote monastery for the Kurt incident, but this is never even touched upon in the movie.
Xian, the only one who recognises Po, tries to get David to stop the fight, but Dave gets stopped by security, who are clearly not bothered about what is actually happening in the ring.
Tong Po gets brutal on Brian, and kills him in the fight.This fight horribly over exaggerates how tough Tong Po is.Brian, who is no wuss, cannot hurt him,despite hitting him directly in the face several times.I know he is meant to be tough, but this is just ridiculous.
As Brian is taken to hospital,David is told to go back to the arena in two hours for a final duel with Tong Po.
Xien reveals that it was Sanga who sent him, and ponders if he is selfish, for training David purely so he can destroy Tong Po for killing Mylee.
Now David has to face the man who killed his brothers and his friend, in the ancient way, hands bound,drenched in resin and covered in broken glass...

Despite the continuity errors from the first movie, there really isnt all that much glaringly wrong with this.Sure, it can't touch the original, but as far as a sequel to a minor hit movie that couldnt even entice it's star back, its pretty good.I suppose when you take into account the sequels for films similiar to Kickboxer, we should be glad they reference the original at all, let alone with the regularity that they do.
One thing that bothered me was Tong Po's entrance, I think they could have made it less clear what was going to happen.
It also may sound a bit familiar to those of you familiar with the Rocky series,especially the latter entries.The whole plot about Brian leaving his trainer for the big bucks was pure Rocky V(hell,Brian even looked kinda like Tommy Gun), and the whole 'invincible foreigner kills his friend in the ring' lark was actually almost copied and pasted from Rocky 4.
There are very few special effects in the movie, the only one that is standout is when David get a kicking at the gym,I think they exaggerate the blood a wee bit.

It's actually quite shocking how good the acting is.How Albert Pyun talked half of these people into appearing in one of his movies(that is a sequel no less).Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa is one of my all time favourite actors when it comes to villains,how he never really made it big I'll never know, but if I was making a movie that required a villain of asian descent, if I couldnt get him, Id probably just give up the plot, because anyone else would just pale in comparison,unfortuneatley, we dont get to see any of his martial arts skills in this movie.
Dennis Chan is the saviour of the Kickboxer series.While he is fairly reserved comedy wise in this installment, for some reason I find his habit in this entry of wearing tourist style T-shirts while training David, I dont know why, it's just different to see the old master training in a Los Angeles T-Shirt.
Despite being better known for his role in American TV series 'Step by Step' which Iv never seen,Sasha Mitchell is fairly impressive as David,thankfully he resists the urge to attempt to act like Van Damme and makes the character of David as equally likeable as VD's Kurt.His fighting is pretty good as well.Not bad considering he plays a character that shouldn't exist.
Michel Qissi is excellent as Tong Po again,still as intimidating and nasty as ever.I cant help but wish Van Damme had got his old mate to play Sagat in the Streetfighter movie.
Peter Boyle is also impressive as Justin, the crooked businessman.An actor of his calibre is the last thing I expected to find in Kickboxer 2.

The music is geared to sound like that of Kickboxer(and Bloodsport for that matter) with the lyrics that are meant to tie into the movie.The rest of the music is fairly un-memorable, altough I dont remember it being particularly bad.

The fight scenes are entertaining, if nothing special, that really sums up the movie in general.Its probably one of Pyun's best(not that it would take much), and if it werent for the glaring errors from the original,I probably would have really enjoyed it.

While Im sure a lot of people might say my rating is a bit high, I feel the movie is actually above average.I mean, for a sequel to a movie that was hardly a huge hit ,a sequel that Im sure went straight to video,without the main star,and by one of the most infamously bad directors ever it really is impressive.Because of the whole disregard to KB's plot, I would love to hate this movie, but I just find it too entertaining.

Year: 1991
Titles: Kickboxer 2: The Road Back

Other Kickboxer Series Reviews
Kickboxer
Kickboxer 3
Kickboxer 4


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age