Bloodsport announced to the world that Jean-Claude Van Damme was here to triple-jump spin kick you out of your theater seat, but it was Kickboxer that really cemented the “Muscles from Brussels” place in cinema history. Now, Van Damme is returning to milk the decades-old cow which spurted the golden juice that brought him much acclaim. (In between starring in an Amazon comedy, by the way.)
Deadline is reporting that JCVD will be returning for Kickboxer: Vengeance, the fifth film in the b-rated movie franchise. This time, though, it is Van Damme who will be playing the wise sensei, Master Durand, to Kurt Sloane (newcomer Alain Moussi, X-Men: Days of Future Past). Durand must teach Sloan the ways of the triple-take flying blow (please let this happen), while MMA and wrestling stars like Gina Carano, Dave Bautista, Cain Velasquez, and Georges St-Pierre stand in the way. This film is basically just a retelling of the original, with Bautista playing Tong Po.
Possibly the only thing going for this is St-Pierre, who is a legitimate athlete, and whose fight scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a stand-out set piece. It’s also interesting that Carano and Bautista are involved in this project because they’re both Marvel veterans now, and it almost seems beneath them to star in a film that is basically a straight-to-DVD throwaway. Still, just to see JCVD throw a high kick and churn out a painful looking split will be enough for nostalgia purposes.
Kickboxer: Vengeance will be in theaters and VOD sometime later this year.
(via Deadline)
