'Kickboxer: Retaliation' Trailer Has Both Kickboxing And Retaliation

Who knew I’d be so on the hook for a revamped Kickboxer franchise? Okay, everyone who’s ever met me knew that right away. But I am. Kickboxer: Vengeance was pretty rad, if little more than a rehash of the original. So you can bet I’m amped for the upcoming Kickboxer: Retaliation, which just dropped a new trailer ahead of its impending release.

If we’re being honest, this Kickboxer: Retaliation trailer doesn’t offer any surprises. It looks like one long training montage that leads up to our chiseled hero battling some giant inhuman fighting machine. Which is exactly what I want out of this movie. This may not blaze any new trails, but it certainly knows how to deliver the goods. Add to the mix that there’s a ton of grim prison-style exploitation shenanigans going on, and I’m way down.

Once again, Jean-Claude Van Damme returns in his role as mentor. Mike Tyson also shows up playing a convict who punches dudes, including star Alain Moussi, which is precisely what you expect Mike Tyson to do in a movie. Then we get a scene-chewing Christopher Lambert as the main shadowy villain, and the dude who plays the Mountain on Game of Thrones fittingly plays the massive dude Kurt Sloane has to fight.

Here’s the actual synopsis for Kickboxer: Retaliation:

It has now been 12 months since Kurt Sloan left Thailand vowing never to return. The story picks up in a crowded sports arena with cheering fans where Kurt is now in a new battle – a title bout for the MMA World Championship when Kurt is lured back to Bangkok, Thailand. 

Kurt soon learns that in order to be allowed to leave Thailand he needs to fight a new formidable foe named Mongkut, who is a beast of a man, standing at 6'8" and weighing in around 400 lbs of solid muscle. 

Kurt does not fully comprehend the challenge he has ahead of him until he encounters the pure size and strength of the man named Mongkut. Through much pain and pure determination, Kurt is put through some of the most enduring training he has ever experienced to prepare him for the fight for his life.

Mongkut makes me think of Mongo from Blazing Saddles, I can’t help it.

Directed by Dimitri Logothetis, Kickboxer: Retaliation also stars a variety of real-world fighters, including Wanderlei Silva, Rico Verhoeven, Fabricio Werdum, and Roy Nelson. It hits theaters (maybe) and VOD platforms on January 26 and lands on Blu-ray March 5. A third part in the trilogy, Kickboxer: Syndicate, has already been announced.