Customer Reviews

Kickboxer 3 The Art of War / Kickboxer 4 The Aggressor

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

KICKBOXER 3
3 STARS - DISAPPOINTINGLY NO TONG PO

Kickboxer 3 goes away from the first two movies with the absenece of the impressive villain, Tong Po. David Sloan and Xian return though, and fly to Brazil where David is to fight the Argentina fighter, Eric Martine, for the lightweight world kickboxing championship. While in Brazil, David and Xian meet and become friends to a homeless boy and his older sister. David also meets Eric Martine's promoter, Frank Lane, who is inviting to David and Xian but secretly steals the boy's older sister to sell into prostitution. Lane captures David and puts him through excrutiating training, hoping David will be too weak for the fight against Martine.

The story in Kickboxer 3 is pretty decent, but its harder to appreciate it with the absence of Tong Po. There aren't many fights in the movie, and only two that are decent. The first is an exhibition match between Martine and another fighter. The best fight in the movie is between David and Martine. Its about a 5 minute fight that begins in the ring but ends on the arena floor with the surrounding crowd cheering on. I really like this fight and I wished it were longer (especially when they fight outside the ring on the floor). Also worth mentioning, there is a small scene of Caporeia fighters in the beginning of the movie that is beautiful to watch.

Kickboxer 3 overall turns out to be nothing more than an average martial arts flick. After Kickboxer 5, it is the worst in the franchise. Its not a bad movie, but Kickboxer 1, 2, and 4 have a lot more to offer, especially action and fighting.

KICKBOXER 4
4 STARS - TONG PO RETURNS

Many people would love to give this movie far less than four stars, but Kickboxer 4 really is better than a lot of American martial art movies. No, its not a classic like the first 2 kickboxers or bloodsport, and its not as intense on fighting as Shootfighter or Best of the Best 2. But overall, Kickboxer 4 delivers (as a good B-rated movie in the genre of American martial arts). The action is a plenty, there is a tournament, good-looking locales, and acting that isn't terrible along with a story that has a decent plot.

Sasha Mitchell is the only returning star from any of the 1st 3 Kickboxers. Still playing the lead role of David Sloan, this time out the character is a lot darker and far-less laid back than in the previous 2 films (probably because his wife has been kidnapped and he has been framed for murder in the beginning of the movie). Although many would disgree with the turnaround of his character, it sets Kickboxer 4 up for a lot more fights. Tong Po returns, but instead of being played by Michel Qissi, Kamel Krifia takes over. Unfortunately, his fake make-up and higher voice doesn't set quite a villainous tone for Po, as compared to the 1st 2 Kickboxers. But, there is still something about him that still makes the villain role convincing enough.

Kickboxer 4 has a lot of fighitng, both in and out of the tournament. There is a bar fight near the beginning of the movie where Sloan kicks everyone butt and doesn't get hit once. The tournament has plenty of fights, though most are short and unimpressive. There is one fighter that does some Caporeia, which I think is always great to watch. Tong Po fights very little, only near the end of the movie against David Sloan. The fight is good, with Po and Sloan fighitng it out outside on table tops covered with dishes and glasses for about 2 minutes, but it could have been so much cooler if Tong Po connected with maybe one hit. Unfortunately, its Sloan all the way from the beginning of the fight.

Kickboxer 4 has its flaws, but if the flaws were corrected it may very well have been a 5 star rating by me. The movie is still entertaining from start to finish. The movie ends with a hopefull return of Tong Po, but Kickboxer 5 blew the pants off of that one.

Ok, I have never actually seen Kickboxers 1 & 2, but after seeing clips from them at the beginning of this movie, I can tell you they are better. Kickboxer 4 is good though in some areas, yet bad in others. The action and fighting - very good. You won't get bored if you like fighting scenes. What I don't like is the final fight, Tang Po looks as if he never had a karate lesson in his life! As for the storyline, not so great. But overall I like it anyway just to see the nice action.

If you have seen all the other Kickboxer films, you may be a bit dismayed at the tone of this one. It is as different from the first 3 as night is from day. This installment is very dark in tone, having jettisoned the Teacher figure from previous films, and the humor that interaction with him provided. Our hero is now a loner out for revenge upon his nemesis Tong Po. In the first few expository minutes, a voice-over explains that David(I think that's his name) has married, and his wife was kidnapped and is being held by Tong Po. The rest of the story involves a to-the-death competion hosted by T. P. which our hero infiltrates in order to find and free his wife.
This movie would have made a much better stand-alone picture. Mitchell's character has changed so much he might as well be a different man, although it would not have solved the problem of the tacked-on backstory. Besides, a different actor is playing Tong Po! Sure he looks similar, but that is really pushing it!
Sasha Mitchell does well in the fight scenes, showing some grace and variety in his movement. The camera manages to shoot him so you can even see some of what he is doing. Several time Women's Champion Michelle Krasnoo also appears as a bratty girl who wants to fight with the big boys. Her martial arts are much better than her acting. You almost want her to get her butt kicked.
There is not much depth in the story but not much is required. The wounded hero has a just cause, the villain does dastardly deeds with a smile and there are many round-knees and devastating kicks. This movie really just wants to look good and it manages pretty well. There is eye candy for men and women and lots of martial arts.
This is not bad for b-movie fight flicks. The director left room for a sequel should the studio want to try for one more but 4 is enough already! Go find something else to do!

Okay, the "real" Tong Po didn't show up for this although they used Michel Quissi's picture on the box and the Kamel Krifia is just awful for the most part, but it's his awful dialogue and trying to be Tong Po that make this film a hoot. Sasha Mitchell is awesome and really takes the movie over the top in terms of the fighting. I like his return to Muay Thai style in the fights and he pulls it off well.

Albert Pyun did us a favor and went away from showing the same kick twenty times with the exception of a few scenes. The tournament is well done and the whole cast does a great job despite the flimsy storyline. Like Tong Po wouldn't recognize David Sloane the minute he saw him...RIGHT!

I loved Michelle "Mouse" Krasnoo. She ROCKS and really made a difference in my enjoyment of the film. I wish she were in more films.

If you like good fight scenes, then this movie is a good one. Sasha Mitchell apears to have changed his style from traditional kickboxing to more of a muay thai style, and the kumite style tournament is done well. However, Tong Po is played by a different character, and he is by no means as good as the one that played Tong Po in the first two kickboxers. The final fight between Sloan and Tong Po is not even competitive!!!! This movie is worth bying, but dont expect the same quality as the first two kickboxers.

The fourth installment in the "Kickboxer" franchise isn't a great movie by any means, especially when compared to the original Van Damme classic and the better-than-average first sequel. However, after the sheer disappointment that was Kickboxer 3: The Art of War, I see fit to cut this one some slack for just being a carefree karate B-movie. It has some disappointing parts that nearly earn it a lower rating, but considering that you ought to watch a film like this in a none-too-serious mindset to begin with, I can't complain too much.

The story: when he is framed, sent to prison, and his wife is kidnapped by a returning Tong Po (Kamel Kriffa, Thunder in Paradise 3), the happy-go-lucky David Sloan (Sasha Mitchell, Step by Step) transforms into a dark soul, hell-bent on revenge. He's released by the DEA to infiltrate a tournament set up by the fighter-turned-kingpin to bring him to justice - a task he must accomplish alongside rescuing his wife and keeping Po from discovering his identity.

Though not completely humorless, you realize early on that this film isn't going to be quite as (intentionally) silly in temperament as its predecessors. Sloan is presented as more of a Charles Bronson-type character than his usual goofy self, and this actually aids his acting performance, which is easily the best of the three movies he's done for this series. The film's dramatic offerings in general are decent, but few things can redeem the decision to have Kamel Kriffa take over the role of lead villain from his cohort Michel Qissi. It's less of a performance qualm than a technical one: apparently the only way to make Kriffa look Oriental was to fit him with heavy makeup and a prosthetic brow, the result of which looks not the least bit convincing. In hindsight, this shouldn't make too much of a difference since the regal, instrument-playing, evil-laughing Tong Po of "The Aggressor" is so different from the near-stoic beast that menaced the first two movies that they may as well be two different characters. It's admirable that the filmmakers wanted to tie this movie closer to the original films than the third one, but it really would've been better if they had just delivered a new villain and not attempted to substitute one of the more notable bad guys of martial arts cinema.

The movie's fight content is highlighted early on by a thoroughly entertaining bar brawl Sasha Mitchell has to save 20-year-old Michele Krasnoo (Death Match): playing out more like a Steven Seagal beatdown than a Van Damme karate fight, it's no technical masterpiece but nevertheless undeniably fun to watch. All the fighting that follows it, however, must be taken with a couple grains of salt. The tournament itself doesn't begin until the last 35 minutes of the film, and though it features capoeira mestre Amen Santo (Only the Strong) and two of the legendary Machado brothers, sixteen of the twenty fights last under fifteen seconds, with some not even exceeding ten. There are some neat moves to be seen, but it's hard to appreciate them in such short bursts. The eventual showdown between David and Tong Po is an absolute joke, with less karate than there is rolling around on tables and having Po be absolutely destroyed by Sloan from start to stop - a definite step down from the characters' encounter in the second film. What's more (SPOILER), the movie offers next to no resolution by having Tong Po simply run away from the fight and not be seen again for the movie's remaining sixty seconds.

The film's first half is definitely the more balanced and consistent, but even the disappointments offered by the last 45 minutes can't drag it down completely. In a way, my three-star rating is honorary, considering that director Albert Pyun was unable to even match the overall competence of his own Kickboxer 2, but in light of Sasha Mitchell leaving the series to make room for Mark Dacascos in the not-really-any-better Kickboxer 5: Redemption, it's nice to know that at least he didn't have to bow out at the end of one of the worse entries of the series.

I have a theory - people who bother to call Kickboxer movies starring Sascha Mitchell from Step by Step `stupid' can't be that intelligent themselves. It's kind of obvious when you're renting films that are number 3 and 4 in a series with subtitles like Aggressor and Art of War, that you're going to get served an expected formula. One's liking of the Kickboxer sequels depends largely on whether or not one thinks Sasha Mitchell is charismatic enough as a lead and a good enough kickboxer. I think he fulfills both requirements, and I think both films are good.

It's great to see Kickboxer 3&4 on dvd, after the release of 1,2,and 5. Kickboxer 3 The Art Of War takes a break from the sloan family vs tong po battle and takes place with david and xian going to rio. They bring down a guy who pimps out under age girls and all the while defending his title sucessfully.
Kickboxer 4 The Aggressor is a great movie going back to david sloan vs. tong po. Much darker than the other kickboxer's david and tong po do battle one final time it is a must see and must have for any fan of the kickboxer series

Enormously bad director Albert Pyun returns to ruin the "Kickboxer" series in the fourth installment that has no continuity to the third at all, which is why it fails. The third film had some fun excitement. This one is a depressing, boring work of smut that wants badly to be a martial-arts flick, but instead feels more like a late night soap opera. Full of horrid dialogue, bad choreography, and characters you learn to hate, this film pretty much kills what could have been a fun series. If you're watching the "Kickboxer" films, stop at the third. This movie will either depress you or put you to sleep.

I saw this on USA over the summer and I thought it was pretty cool. Sasha Mitchell rocks when it comes to the fight scenes though.