Movie Kumite: Hard Target 2 vs. Kickboxer: Vengeance
The career resurgence of Jean-Claude Van Damme has been a joy to watch.
Over the past few years we have seen JCVD play some characters unlike anything he played in his hey day. Van Damme has landed his own Amazon Prime series called Jean-Claude Van Johnson. Hollywood has even dusted off some of Van Damme’s classic movies and given them new life.
In this edition of the Movie Kumite, we will pit Hard Target 2, a sequel to Van Damme’s 1993 film starring Scott Adkins, and Kickboxer: Vengeance, a reboot of Van Damme’s 1989 film, against one another…
THE HEROES
No surprise here… Scott Adkins kicked some major ass in Hard Target 2. But much like I didn’t believe Chance Boudreaux in the original Hard Target was one of Van Damme’s best characters, I didn’t believe Adkins’ Wes Baylor in Hard Target 2 was one of Scott’s best characters (that honor would go to either Boyka or Casey Bowman). Scott Adkins has been in the action game so long at this point, fans of the genre know the type of quality fight scenes Scott brings to the table.
Alain Moussi came into Kickboxer: Vengeance as an unknown. Moussi had to step into the Kurt Sloane role that Jean-Claude Van Damme made famous nearly three decades earlier, which was no easy task… but in my opinion Moussi held his own and I could not imagine a better debut for him as an action star than the one he had in Kickboxer: Vengeance. Seriously, watching Alain Moussi do his thing for the first time was reminiscent to seeing JCVD for the first time in Bloodsport… I became an instant fan. You only have one chance to make a good first impression and Alain Moussi did just that.
Some may categorize this as an upset, but I’m going to give this one to Alain Moussi. Kickboxer: Vengeance was a must win performance for Moussi, where Hard Target 2 was just another day at the office for Scott Adkins.
HARD TARGET 2 – 0 KICKBOXER: VENGEANCE – 1
THE VILLAINS
The presence and aura that Dave Bautista brought to the role of Tong Po in Kickboxer: Vengeance is undeniable. Big Dave looked the part of a legit badass kickboxing god! But I don’t think the Dave Bautista version of Tong Po was nearly the evil villain that the Michel Qissi version of Tong Po was in the original (he raped Mylee!!!)… yes, Bautista’s Tong Po kills Eric Sloane in Kickboxer: Vengeance, but it is done in a non-sanctioned fight. Eric knew the dangers going in. The local law enforcement may have looked the other way on the death of Eric, but does that make Tong Po evil? Tong Po was a celebrity in his home country and the police sweeping things under the rug is often a perk of being a celebrity. Tong Po was just taking advantage of it.
On the other hand Robert Knepper’s Aldrich to me was pure evil. Here is a man who has devised a game for the rich to HUNT HUMAN BEINGS AND KILL THEM! That is some sick and twisted thinking right there and the type of thing that will earn a villain a victory in the Movie Kumite!
HARD TARGET 2 – 1 KICKBOXER: VENGEANCE – 1
THE WOMEN OF ACTION
In both of our competing movies, the male heroes would not have been able to make it to the end of their respective films without the help of some women of action.
In Kickboxer: Vengeance, Sara Malakul Lane’s character Liu is one of the non-corrupt members of law enforcement in Thailand. She has Kurt Sloane’s back through out the movie and facilitates Kurt staying with Master Durand while she conducts her investigation into the murder of Kurt’s brother. But hold on, I have to throw a penalty flag here… Liu also ends up fornicating with Kurt Sloane which has to be seen as a huge conflict of interest since Kurt is her key witness. Be a professional Liu, save the sex until AFTER the trial!
Ann Truong’s character Tha in Hard Target 2 helps Wes Baylor navigate the jungle terrain, finds him a safe haven that is unknown to the hunters and proves to be fearless and pretty handy in a fight to boot. Tha is a true tough chick!
HARD TARGET 2 – 2 KICKBOXER: VENGEANCE – 1
THE MAN
While both of our movies were inspired by classic JCVD films, Kickboxer: Vengeance has a huge advantage over Hard Target 2, because Kickboxer: Vengeance has the man himself in the movie! Jean-Claude Van Damme played Master Durand, Kurt Sloane’s trainer and the man who prepares Kurt mentally and physically for the battle of his life against Tong Po.
Van Damme’s participation in the film did not just give Kickboxer: Vengeance his blessing, it allowed Van Damme to pass the Kurt Sloane torch to Alain Moussi. And we are all tied up…
HARD TARGET 2 – 2 KICKBOXER: VENGEANCE – 2
THE CRITICS
It is time to get some different opinions involved and as always I turn to two of the most respected movie related web sites around, IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes…
Hard Target 2 had a shockingly low 14% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans were a bit more kind to Kickboxer: Vengeance with a 34% approval rating.
Kickboxer: Vengeance has a 4.9 rating on IMDb, with Hard Target 2 a few notches north of that at 5.2 and we are still all tied up…
HARD TARGET 2 – 3 KICKBOXER: VENGEANCE – 3
BOOGIE DOWN BONUS ROUND
For only the third time in Movie Kumite history, do we find ourselves turning to the Boogie Down Bonus Round to determine a winner.
As I stated earlier, I became an instant fan of Alain Moussi while watching Kickoxer: Vengeance, but even if I was on the fence about him as the movie was playing out, by the time the end credits rolled and I saw Moussi do his interpretation of the classic JCVD Kickboxer dance, I would have been sold. Moussi brought his own hippy hippy shake and a flip to the dance, but wisely incorporated Van Damme’s classic splits/booty shake combo. In that clip that lasted less than 60 seconds, Moussi proved he gets it and that he was having the time of his life.
Scott Adkins had some end credits bonus footage in Hard Target 2 as we got to see him go out for lunch… I’m still unsure why that footage was included at the end of a movie that already had a pretty long run time for an action flick, but it is not like there was going to a scene with Scott Adkins getting jiggy with it.
FINAL SCORE: HARD TARGET 2 – 3 KICKBOXER: VENGEANCE – 4
