Hard Target 2
Universal 1440 Entertainment, Living Films, USA, Thailand, 2016. 

Mixed Martial Artist Wes 'The Jailor' Baylor (Scott Adkins) wins a match against  his best friend Johnny 'Solid Gold' Sutherland. Unfortunately Wes beats him so that Johnny dies. Depressed Wes goes to Bangkok to drink, funding his new hobby with fights in underground matches. Talent-seeker Jonah Aldrich (Robert Knepper) notices Wes' skills. He offers $500000 for a single match in Myanmar. And Wes has nothing better to do so why not.

The sadistic creeps underestimate Wes, he is a trained champion of close combat after all. Wes does not need to try to survive alone as he meets local girl Tha (Ann Truong) who has her own grudge against Aldrich's hunting club.

The original "Hard Target" was one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's better movies and also one of the better John Woo's American era directions. White pigeons an slowmotions remind about John Woo's style. The sequel moves the story from urban location to jungle, otherwise the story goes quite similarly so fans of the original movie should feel entertained. Scott Adkins is in great kicking condition and he even does Van Damme-style split-kick. Also Ann Truong shows her martial arts skills. Robert Knepper has gone the Lance Henriksen acting school, Temuera Morrison plays the style of heavy he usually plays, and Rhona Mitra and Adam Saunders are the most interesting of the hunters. The cinematography looks great for a direct-to-video movie, and the story has a nice 1990s style action movie vibe.

Rating: Good

Starring: Scott Adkins, Amarin Cholvibul, Thira Chutikul, Robert Knepper, Geoffrey Giuliano, Rhona Mitra, Temuera Morrison, David Asavanond, Adam Saunders, Troy Honeysett, Jamie Timony, Katrina Grey, Byron Gibson, Cullet Eric, Komkrib 'Krib' Wongwirot, Suthipongse Phukaokaew, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Peter Hardy, Sean Keenan, Gigi Velicitat, Ann Truong, Chanthathanisa Vismitananda, Chiv Patrick Tang, Supoj Khaowwong, Eoin O'Brien, Khiri Lowenstein, Anteo Quintavalle, JeeJa Yanin
Director: Roel Reiné