VIVA International Pictures and MVP Entertainment proudly present “Kickboxer: Retaliation” which delivers hardcore martial arts action, prompting many action fans to say that it surpasses its predecessor, “Kickboxer: Vengeance”.
After Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi) won the fight against his brother’s killer in Thailand, he vowed never to return to that country again. But while preparing for a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) title shot, he is sedated and forced back into Thai soil. Worse, he is locked up in prison. To get his freedom back plus one million dollars, he must face a 6-foot, 8-inch tall man beast named Mongkut who weighs 400 lbs. He refuses at first, but the kidnapping of his girlfriend forces him into a battle. As he undergoes the most rigorous training he’s had by far, conducted by unexpected and uncompromising mentors, Kurt Sloane must also keep his mental strength intact. After all, the strongest man doesn’t always win, but the smartest one does.
Being a stuntman long before he started playing lead, Alain Moussi does all of his own stunts.
In an interview done by freelance journalist *Lena Lamorey, Moussi reveals about his work on Retaliation, “This shoot was the most gruelling shoot that I have ever done in my life…and we had a crazy condensed schedule. We were running six days a week for five weeks. The end fight was seven days in a row fighting…I’m getting tossed, thrown on stairs, on the ground—all kinds of stuff.”
Playing Thomas Moore, the villain that instigates the fight between Sloane and Mongkut is Christopher Lambert who admits to have “always wanted to play a bad guy”. He shares, *“What attracted me to “Kickboxer: Retaliation” is that the director told me "We’re not going to use any effects, any CGI, any wires, they’ve been training for months and they’re gonna fight" and I witnessed that, because I was in the arena and I was seeing Alain being thrown from left to right, against walls, or on the floor – you were fighting. So that also the purity of the fights gives the audience something different.”
Jean-Claude Van Damme reprises his role as Durand, Sloane’s mentor. Among other things viewers can look forward to in this film is how Van Damme enters the scene. Moussi happily shares about his co-star, “This time around we had a lot more dialog and more of a relationship over the two films…The energy was really good on set.”
The presence of boxing icon Mike Tyson makes this movie more exciting. He portrays a tough convict forced into a world of fighting behind bars. Aside from the scenes where he mentors Sloane, his encounter with Van Damme is one for the books.
Now playing Kickboxer: Retaliation in cinemas nationwide.
