They’ve got the moves

Shot in Thailand last year, the reboot of the 1989 martial art hit “Kickboxer”, “Kickboxer: Vengenace”, won’t be in theatres until September 2, but already cast and crew are hard at work on the second instalment. Once again, Thailand is the major location for the film, which kicks off a year after part 1.
Dimitri Logothetis, who wrote and co-directed the first part returns to direct Kickboxer: Retaliation”, as the sequel is called. Shooting started here last month and the press was recently invited to visit the set – a rice warehouse by the Chao Phraya River in Pathum Thani, part of which was converted to resemble an ancient temple complete with a giant head of a Buddha image.
Sadly though, the set visit was decidedly brief as after a quick nod of greeting, most of the crew rushed off to continue the shoot.
Canadian actor and stuntman Alain Moussi reprises his role as Kurt Sloane role – played by Jean Claude Van Damme in the ’80s classic – while Thai-British actress Sara Malakul Lane also returns as the Bangkok detective Liu who becomes involved with Sloane.
Van Damme is back too and once again portrays Sloane’s martial arts trainer.
 “We’ve had such a strong market response for ‘Kickboxer Vengeance’ even though it only goes on limited release in North America and through Video On Demand on September 2, that we’ve been able to start the second one earlier than we expected,” says the Greek-born American director.
“The first part was a reboot and it was a modern day remake but we added new twists to make it more edgy. This one is much more powerful and stronger than the first. We spent a lot more time on the project. So it’s much a bigger picture. It’s a little darker in the way that it’s set up too,” Logothetis explains,
Part of that excitement comes from the addition of fighters and actors to the cast, among them French star Christopher Lambert of “The Highlander” and boxer Mike Tyson,  who were also on the set during the press visit.  Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho also puts in an appearance as does Icelandic strongman Hafthor Julius Bjornsson aka the Mountain from the hit series “Game of Thrones.”
“It’s great to be back here in Thailand though it’s still as hot as I remember it. I’m even happy about coming back to action films,” says Lambert, who was in Thailand to shoot ‘Mortal Kombat” in the 1990s.
 “I wanted to bring Chris back to the genre. There’s a terrific scene with Chris and Jean Claude but I’m not going to tell you about it,” the director adds.
Former heavyweight champ Tyson plays a tough convict forced into a world of fighting behind bars “This is the breath of fresh air and it’s time to shine,” he says. Tyson has previously appeared in cameos for movies and TV, including “The Hangover” and “Ip Man 3”.
“Kickboxer: Retaliation” kicks off a year after Kurt Sloane left Thailand vowing never to return. He’s back soon enough though, after being arrested during an MMA title fight and finds himself in a dingy cell at an infamous Bangkok prison. Kurt soon meets the masterminds behind his abduction and is told he needs to fight against the formidable foe Mongkut (Bjornsson) to earn the money with which to buy his freedom.
The film is expected to hit cinemas next year.