When you hear the quote, “You bleed like mylee, mylee good fuck” there is only one film that comes to mind. 1989’s Kickboxer is that very film that paved the way for many martial arts action films of the 80’s/90’s and kick started the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme. Long before the days of CGI, films were created based off the good guy vs. the villain in a no holds barred match scenario. This included brutal fight sequences where many fighters were left in their bloody death bed while one lucky warrior was kinged the champion. Fast forward to 2016 and these type of films have been left behind in the ashes to the more dominating special effects of the tech savvy generation. For me personally, I grew up with films dominated by action stars such as Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone. What made these figures great were they were realistic and mortal heroes that didn’t need capes to kick some ass and take some names.
I heard they were bringing back the Kickboxer franchise recently and have been waiting patiently for the film to finally hit the big screen. I recently got the chance to view an advanced screening of the film, and though it has a darker tone compared to the 1989 film, it still has that original refreshing premise of good vs. bad that will bring you back to the time when action films were fun and refreshing.
Today, I sat down and spoke with the main star of the film, Alain Moussi, who portrays Kurt Sloane. He is no stranger to the film industry and has been working as a stunt double/coordinator since 2005 on such films as Pacific Rim, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Suicide Squad. Kickboxer: Vengeance is his first feature film as an actor and his performance was quite remarkable. I spoke to him about making this film, working alongside the legendary Jean-Claude Van Damme, and becoming the next big action star!
Cinephellas 