- MrTrivetFebruary 10, 2026Kickboxer: Retaliation came to me by accident, tagged in "the bay" as Novocaine, and though I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch it at first, the film reminded me of the golden age of brawling cinema. Unfortunately, while it walks familiar paths, the whole thing ends up feeling more like a parody of the genre than a genuine homage to the classics. Moussi has the body and face of a leading man, but when he speaks, all the charisma vanishes, leaving him looking like a secondary henchman - probably the film’s biggest handicap. Beyond that, Kickboxer seems torn between nostalgia for Van Damme’s era and a chaotic casting of celebrities, with the most absurd role going to Ronaldinho - as if the poor guy were really serving time for kicking a football and smiling. Overall, the film feels more like a far cry for the fascination with martial arts. Despite a few dynamic fight scenes and a decent final showdown, it lacks the cohesion and genuine energy of the bloodsport classics of the past, but I admit that watching it was a bit of a guilty pleasure.
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Kickboxer: Retaliation was released on January 26, 2018.
Kickboxer: Retaliation was directed by Dimitri Logothetis.
Kickboxer: Retaliation has a runtime of 1h 50m.
Kickboxer: Retaliation was produced by Dimitri Logothetis, Robert Hickman.
Right after winning a fight in Las Vegas, Kurt Sloane is sedated and taken to a prison in Bangkok, where he's forced to fight a 6'10" giant for freedom and $1M - but this will require some intense training.
The key characters in Kickboxer: Retaliation are Kurt Sloane (Alain Moussi), Thomas Moore (Christopher Lambert), Master Durand (Jean-Claude Van Damme).
Kickboxer: Retaliation is rated R.
Kickboxer: Retaliation is an Action, Drama film.
Kickboxer: Retaliation has an audience rating of 8.4 out of 10.
Kickboxer: Retaliation had a budget of $13M.
Kickboxer: Retaliation has made $4,537 at the box office.