MOVIE #2,289 • SCORE 6/10 • 02.13.24
SERIES: ALBERT & AKERMAN
As I did for Pyun’s first foray in the Kickboxer franchise, I’m reviewing a bonus, non-Albert OR Akerman feature, for this series/book. But unlike his second installment which (VERY loosely) builds on the events of the Jean-Claude Van Damme original, this third part is a standalone outlier: completely abandoning any facet of the narrative and only returning two actors in the form of lead man/himbo Sasha Mitchel and his mentor/comic relief Dennis Chan. (I even recorded a bonus podcast above even though I knew I was going to write about this one!)
This is actually my second Rick King joint as well, having reviewed his Jeff Fahey/Michael Madsen thriller Catherine’s Grove for my James Hong series. I love when I tackle multiple films from completely random directors and it doesn’t get any more random than this guy.
Catherine’s Grove was a stinker, but this was a pleasant surprise for the most part. It’s shockingly competent/tight and it works because it’s played more like an action film than a tournament-based martial arts movie. K3 is also the least self-serious of the franchise by a wide margin with the most obvious attempts at comedy, usually delivered by the Mr. Miyagi surrogate, Xian Chow. Dennis Chan came up in the Hong Kong cinema of the 1980s and has over 80 credits to his name, but no Wikipedia page. I think he’s a charming screen presence, even if the attempts at humor are baffling at best…
I don’t want to oversell this one: there are a number of bad moments/flaws and it doesn’t stick the landing (it indulges in the horrible trope of having the bad guy’s loyal henchman turn on him at the last minute for absolutely no reason). But with low to no expectations, I can definitely give it a passing grade.
CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #2,288 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #2,290 ⫸
⫷ MOVIE #2,288 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #2,290 ⫸
"Kickboxer 3 (stylized on-screen as Kickboxer III: The Art of War and released in other countries as Karate Tiger 6: Fighting Spirit) is a 1992 American martial arts film directed by Rick King. The film is the third in the Kickboxer film series with only Sasha Mitchell and Dennis Chan returning from the previous films. It was also the last film to feature Dennis Chan as Xian Chow. It was released on September 4, 1992.
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