Customer Reviews

Kickboxer 5: Redemption

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Besides the first Kickboxer this one is the best. But I must say the best part of the movie is its leading man. Mark is extremely talented and did the best he or anybody else could do with this part. The action is good, and the technique as well. So if you like martial arts it is a good movie to see.

Kickboxer 5 was not the worst martial arts movie I have seen, but compared to the other 4 Kickboxers, this just did not belong. The other Kickboxers remained fairly close to one another through either story or characters. The only element from any of the previous Kickboxers found in Redemption was David Sloan, who appaears no more than a shadow getting the beat down and killed during the beginning credits. Its quite ridiculous too, because the goons that kill him can't seem to lay a hand on Matt Reeves (Marc Dacascos) throughout the movie.

Matt Reeves, our main character, receives the news that Sloan was killed by the Negaal Federation, and soon they kill another of Matt's friends who has just won an important ring match. So Matt of course wants revenge, travels to South Africa to locate and stop the leader of the Federation - Mr. Negaal. Mr Negaal (James Ryan) is an ok villain, but really has no skill in this movie that impressed me. His goons are complete idiots. The other characters in the movie are your basic average B movie actors. Marc Dacascos is the only highlight, of the film period. His katas and training sequences are worth watching, but any fights he takes part in are just totally unimpressive, and that includes the final brawl against Negaal which is one of the most dissapointing climatic fights I have ever seen.

Redemption is just average, maybe not even quite. Its not extremely cheesy nor ridiculously stupid, but it just does not impress, when it so easily could have. The fights are pointless and the plot is too predictable. If you are bored and need some average entertainment, here you go. Don't even bother getting this if you wish to complete your Kickboxer collection - it just doesn't even fit the role.

Kickboxer and/or Mark Dacascos fans may want to look elsewhere. While Kickboxer 5 is a bit better than the fourth, that's about it. There are a few good fight scenes halfway through the movie but then it goes downhill from there. Kickboxer 5 starts off with David Sloan getting murdered by some crimeboss in South Africa. Mark's character declares vengence (what a surprise!) and he goes off to find the crimeboss responsible for David's death with the help of an escaped convict. The final fight scene with Mark Dacascos and the crimeboss is just as ridiculous as the final fight scene in Kickboxer 4. As most direct to video films go, this one doesn't deliver overall so if you are one who wants to see the Kickboxer series than just stick with the first three movies. Trust me on this one!

And that's about it. Yes, it's little more than a display of Mark's abilities as a martial artist and his charm shines through what is basically a lousy movie. There's poor performance everywhere and plot holes even I couldn't ignore. Mark goes to the police after seeing his friend killed and the chief says there's no evidence. NO EVIDENCE???!!! What would you call a first hand account of the murder?

Ok, let's look at the good points. Um...Mark. I loved watching his various workouts, especially the one towards the end where he's standing outside the ranch house. He makes a gesture which seems to move the flock of sheep about him. Mere serendipity I assume, but effective. He then proceeds to show off some back flips and an arrow break on his neck, which he learned from his father, Al.

It's for movies like this that DVD's were invented. You can fast forward past the parts you don't like. Which sadly, are too plentiful in this movie.

Fans of the Kickboxer series will be dissapointed by this fifth installment which has nothing to do with the previous entries except for the fact that David Sloan is killed in the opening. Sasha doesn't show up, it's just a siloutte of another actor.

The characters are pretty boring and the film itself is very tame for an R-rating though Dascasos use of the word "buttface" could be a bit extreme for some.

The film could have gone without attaching the Kickboxer name to it. Even on its own two feet, this movie isn't very good and I am somewhat a fan of the lead (Mark Dascasos).

VERY DISSAPPOINTING,HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE KICKBOXING SAGA,A PRODUCTION THE COULD OF DONE WITHOUT,DAVID SLOAN DIES.........LOL.COMMON REALLY EVEN I COULDNT BELIEVE IT,SEE THE MOVIE FOR A GOOD LAUGH,NOTHING ELSE.

...was this movie of Mark Dacascos, one of my favorite Martial Arts-actors of all time. That was one of his rookie movies in that he played a character who wants to avenge " his firned's" death (as usual in these kinds of movies) Of course this plot was immediately predictable and showed some bad acting. If Mark wouldn't have played in this movie I'd give this video 2 stars right away. But luckily it's not as halfwitted as it seems. I actually enjoyed Reeves and Croft teaming up together.

Overall I'd say Mark has done better movies like Only the Strong and Drive.

While the most positive thing one can say about "Kickboxer 5" is that it gave star Mark Dacascos a springboard to his first film of international interest, it's certainly not the only positive thing one can say, and truth be told I sort of resent this one's current low rating, here and on other sites like IMDb. While nowhere near the quality of the first two movies, "The Redemption" is definitely a step above the third film and at least on-par with number four. If you've seen those two and this statement means very little to you, then don't bother, but otherwise don't consider this one any less worth checking out than most of the other series installments.

The story: to avenge his comrades murdered by the forces of a maniacal South African kickboxing promoter attempting to start his own monopolist federation (James Ryan, Kill & Kill Again), former champ Matt Reeves (Dacascos) travels abroad to eliminate the threat, picking up an unexpected ally (Geoff Meed, 6 Guns) in the process.

Admittedly, the most disappointing aspect of the film happens early on, potentially leaving fans of the series feeling sour throughout the remaining duration: David Sloan's silhouette is killed within the first three minutes. It's a heck of an unenthusiastic way to exit a character who's thus far survived the odds in three movies. Additionally, there is no mention of the villain Tong Po, and sadly, Dennis Chan does not show up to tutor Dacascos' character in muay thai. In this way, the series has finally separated itself from its original foundation completely, and we're left with a slightly generic martial arts adventure that could've just as easily been pulled off without the "Kickboxer" name attached to it. Luckily, it has enough cool things going for it to make it worthwhile: the exotic South African setting, for one thing, and Geoff Meed's character as well, who has a face like a vampire and at first seems like he's going to be a run-of-the-mill assassin but then buddies up with Matt in a sort of honor-based partnership. Also, even though he looks more like 50 than his actual 37, James Ryan is enjoyable as the obsessive villain, whose plan for rounding up and/or killing all the current world martial arts champions is so full of holes that even he can't stand it and screams for silence when faced with the illogic (though he can't keep Mark from calling him a buttface).

I can't lie about the fight scenes, though: they're not the best. Of the eight encounters - evenly split between one-on-one and one-on-many matchups - only three of them are what I'd call respectable, and of these only one qualifies as universally good. It's not fault of the performers, for the most part: Dacascos was and is one of the best onscreen fighters this side of the Pacific, Geoff Meed is a good enough performer that I wish he would have had more substantial physical roles throughout his career, and while I've seen James Ryan in better shape doing better fights, he's still an exotic match for these guys. The problem of the scenes lies, as usual, in their editing and filming, which isn't so bad that even the worst match isn't unwatchable, but I can't help but think that most of 'em could've been pretty good if director Kristine Peterson (director of Critters 3 but no other martial arts movies) had stopped trying to shoot the performers from the back and just let a kick be a kick without immediately showing it from alternate angles. There's some gratuitous flipping, though, which you don't see too much of outside of Hong Kong, so it's kind of an exclamation point on how physically capable of an action hero Dacascos is.

With no hint of another installment in the last seventeen years, I think it's safe to say that this series has been laid to rest, and probably for the best. Decent as it is, I have to admit that these sequels haven't been quite as much fun as the original Van Damme outing, and let's face it - it's no use waiting on him. If you've gone to the trouble to see the rest, you might as well catch this one as well, and Dacascos completionists will definitely find worse in Mark's filmography.

This was the worst in the series, i have rented all these (vhs) movies when they came out brand new at the video store many "many" years ago, well i rented kickboxer 4 and 5... "so i know what im talking about!".

And let me just say that they executed a key character "david sloan" in a very cheap way, within only seconds into the film, david sloan was the hero from kickboxer II,III & IV, he beat tong po twice, and he would have easily murdered all the bad guys in kickboxer 5. Im not a sasha michell fan im into van damme more, even when van damme got shoot by tong po, i think the story was well told in kickboxer 2. Even in kickboxer 4 (which i know was better then kickboxer 5) we have strong reference to the first 2 film's. But kickboxer 5 lacked that kickboxer feeling that i grew up with, if your 25 year's old now like me, you will know where im coming from.

As a stand alone movie, this is an ok mark dacascos movie if your a fan of his movies. But as a kickboxer movie, this sequel failed to continue a successful series, and infact, ended the series in a depressing way.

No mention or continuation of the sloan family, which was basically what the kickboxer series is all about.

But i can understand in 2009 why people have given this movie an ok rating, especially if you are a big a mark dacascos fan.

I've watched this movie 3 times now and it's not as bad as many others or that you might think it would be. Actually I'm a James Ryan fan and watched it for his apperance. Mark Dacascos is your standard new generation martial artists (think Van Damme, Gary Daniels, Phillip Rhee etc.). The story line is formula - bad guy kills good guy, friend of good guy seeks revenge in a final showdown. What lifts is slightly above the average for me is James Ryan playing the bad guy. Overall, I'd give it a C+.