The trailer for the Kickboxer remake is here to ruin more childhoods
Much like the shit-stirring Ghostbusters remake, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s 1989 cult classic Kickboxer is also getting the reboot treatment. No doubt the internet will soon be full of commenters infuriated that the film is ruining their childhoods and eager to point out that it would be totally fine if it were just another sequel rather than a reboot. Or maybe not.
Kickboxer: Vengeance raises the stakes of the story of two kickboxing brothers who get in over their heads in Thailand. In the original film, Van Damme’s Kurt decides to get revenge after his brother is paralyzed in the ring. In this new version, Kurt (Alain Moussi) watches his brother Eric (Darren Shahlavi) get murdered by Dave Bautista’s viscous Tong Po. (Tragically, Shahlavi actually died of a heart attack after filming had wrapped.) So Kurt seeks out legendary trainer Master Durand (Van Damme, wearing his best Sylvester Stallone-in-Creed fedora) to help him get revenge. Despite those slight alterations, however, the whole thing still ends with two fighters coating their gloves in broken glass and beating the snot out of each other.
Whether or not Kickboxer: Vengeance will replace Ghostbusters as the most hated trailer of all time remains to be seen. The film hits theaters September 2.