It is also necessary to add here, I was shocked at the news that a sequel to Kill ‘Em All (2017) was going to be released. For me, it was one of the worst films where Jean-Claude Van Damme was the lead actor right up there with the unimpressive Derailed (2001).
It is such a pity because both fans and those who created too seem to be multi talented people. It was fun to see Van Damme at his prime, but still the picture lacked energy and just felt boring. A couple of okay choreographed fights were not able to compensate for the weak screenplay and a few poorly executed directorial decisions.
It is quite mysterious what went that terrible. In fact, Peter Malota, although he may have been a first time helmer, had a lot of experience in stunts, and he was a stuntman on several Van Damme movies from Double Impact (1991) and Universal Soldier (1992) so he understood code of action movies. But it seems that was not the case when it came to directing Kill ‘Em All owing to the pour structure of the movie with excessive flashbacks which every movie goer knows only hinders a film’s progress not enhances it, especially in a Van Damme flick.
Then there was the quality supporting cast, with the likes of Peter Stormare, Maria Conchita Alonso and Daniel Bernhardt who all were able to raise the picture above your bog standard DTV rubbish. Sadly, they were mostly underutilized. At least Van Damme got to go one on one with Bernhardt but by that stage of the film, it was all too little too late. It really should have been more of an event in the movie especially considering that Bernhardt started in the business taking the place of Van Damme in the Bloodsport series.
Being such a massive Van Damme fan myself, yes I had to see the sequel, but with the other parts of the original film’s precedent, my entering the Kill ‘Em All 2 wasn’t with much enthusiasm. Fortunately, I’m pleased to note that the sequel is a huge step up from the original one, that while still having a good few production flaws, managed to keep me entertained for most of its 90 minutes run time.
In the curvature of the story, the sequel starts with a foundational outlook referring to the happenings in the forerunner and thus one does not have to go through the original movie in order to know the plot at hand. This time we meet the enigmatic Phillip (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who has resolved to remain in peace in Italy with his daughter called Vanessa (Jacqueline Fernandez).
As the situation unfolds there is complete attribution of every trace to Phillip, but it comes as a shock that his daughter and he are the targets of hit teams and a lot of trouble based on pictures ensues. His past history has a lot of holes exposed but so does his present and he calls Arabra ex C.I.A. agent Holman (Peter Stormare) to try assist him in unloving his followers.
Not long thereafter it is discovered that it was Petrovic (Andrei Lenart) who was behind the current mass killing because Phillip had previously killed his brother in the first film. At this time we find that Phillip who has never been out of the mess for long is at his Diaspora and more than ever in order to prevent a catastrophe, he will need all his focused skills.
Original director Peter Malota does not return for the sequel as Valeri Milev takes over the chair. Milev’s back catalogue comes with things that I have my concerns about as his previous film Bullets of Justice (2019) was quite hard to finish. Still, it is worth mentioning that, he aspired directing of the successful Re-Kill (2015) which performed fairly well for a found footage low budget film.
Kill ‘Em All 2 is a film which he does a reasonable enough job with. While so, there isn’t anything overtly stylish or earth shattering about the movie, but for the most part Milev maintains a decent pace throughout and includes a fair whack of violent action sequences in it.
One issue that can hardly be solved no matter how much bone crunching action there was is the usage of stunt doubles. As it stands, Van Damme does a lot of the action himself and that is clear, but there are plenty of moments in the film where his double can be seen. Sometimes it is because an effort has to be made for Van Damme to execute moves that he physically is unlikely to do nowadays, but most of the time it seems there is body double simply as Van Damme was not on set.
Even more egregious than the doubling is the awful ADR. It is restricted to one episode but it is so obvious that it cost the film some points. It is heard during a phone call between Van Damme and the main villain. It is so ridiculous because the voice is obviously not Van Damme’s. The worst part was that the conversation is entirely irrelevant. The scene could have been deleted and would have made no difference to the finished product. It recalled some of the awful voiceovers that were present in a lot of the films that Steven Seagal acted in during the 2000’s.
Milev can count on the help of a few attractive places that enhance the production quality of the movie. Angelo Stramaglia, the cinematographer for the project, manages to capture these as well as the action reasonably well, although it does display the look of being over lit on quite a few occasions. It also looks like someone gifted Stramaglia a drone for his Christmas because he uses it quite a lot at certain stages of the film.
If people consider the earlier Darkness of Man to be from Van Damme’s top tier works, then Kill ‘Em All 2, which came out in 2024 and was also directed by him, will never be included in such ranks. To be quite honest, such a situation literally never surprised me as I never even hoped for that to happen. But still, it is kind of nice to see the guy active in the film industry even if such films will always be overshadowed by masterpieces like Bloodsport and Hard Target which were both in the early nineties. What still makes Van Damme’s films stick out from other stars from his era i.e. the in this case previous example from who earlier did the same thing – Steven Seagal is that Van Damme also seems to care about his audience and their expectations. His work here is, shall we say, less than demanding, without being utterly comatose.
What was quite enjoyable about Van damme’s character was his bond with his daughter. Although when I first got to see the cast list, I expected Jacqueline Fernandez to play the romantic interest. I didn’t think that they would choose an appropriate actress to play his daughter, but the directors have taken into consideration Van Damme’s old age. This is noticed in the action part where he does not seem to have the same things that he would have had before, and the fights did wear him out. Only on rare occasions does the movie betray this by showing Van Damme’s Phillip performing a somersault or other acrobatics or cutting some kicks.
I was rather taken aback by Fernandez’s inclusion considering the amount of Indian high budget movies she has done in the past. Certainly, Kill ‘Em All 2, is not of the same budget and scale that most of her work has been but at the same time may have the prospect of introducing her to a larger audience. It doesn’t require her to really take up acting in a major way, but thankfully she isn’t your stereotypical damsel in distress. Fernandez’s Vanessa much more than what her character was made for actively participates in many of the films struggles.
Some actors from the previous film make cameo appearances, and this is how the film is connected to the past. Among them, we must mention Peter Stormare who once again puts on a show as the treacherous Holman. After being let go from the C.I.A, Holman now works as a free agent. Stormare has fun with that, debating whether it was good or bad. At times, it almost seems as if Milev simply told Stormare to improvise. It definitely benefits the film as Stormare is able to provide an instant boost to lethargic proceedings.
On the other hand, Maria Conchita Alonso does not do much, including only in a few scenes that look like all years’ shooting in a day. Her role does serve to advance the storyline a bit but still, her scenes are the last ones that would have been sorely missed if they had been deleted.
In his role as Vlad, the primary villain in the film, Andrei Lenart is dastardly and evil, however he never seems to pose a real challenge to Van Damm. At least he is followed by enough mooks that Philip of VanDamme has to fight through which works towards maintaining interest. Oddly, one such henchman is overweight son of Van Damme named Kris, who gets murdered by father in the in the first scene of the film. First film viewers should note that Kris chased his father David, having fought with his dad in one of several father-son moments. He appears here as a different character, although most of the time he is absent on the screen.
As for the two Van Damme films this year, I’d position Kill ‘Em All 2 just slightly below Darkness of Man. Nevertheless, I was pleased in how this film improved notably from the first film. There’s enough here to satisfy action and Van Damme fans even if you will likely never watch it again.
For more movies visit like Kill Em All 2 on 123Movies.