Kickboxer 3: The Art of War

Kickboxer 3 isn't worth the money, or the rental. Dennis Chan is a comic sidekick and teacher to David Slone who plays a chilsed jawed kickboxer who seems to resemble that bad karate kid from Karate Kid III.

Anyway, the film has David going to Brazil for a kickboxing fight but gets drawn into the seedy world of underage prositutes or something and gets drawn into the local riff-raff.

Even though he's only a kickboxer and only there to kick the ass of the Ivan Drago type kickboxer he goes out on a mission to take out the local bad guy, who isn't even Portuegese or Brazilian, but American.

The fight sequences are okay - but that is it, nothing compared to other martial art movies you can get for the same price.

Avoid it. 1/10

Champion kickboxer David Sloan (Sasha Mitchell) and his man Xian (Dennis Chan) travel to Rio for a kickboxing exhibition and a payday. He is set to fight villainous Eric Martine next week in Argentina for the championship. Street kids, Marcos and his sister Isabella, try to steal David's camera. David turns around to befriend them. Martine's manager Frank Lane (Richard Comar) enslaves girls to work at his compound and he kidnaps Isabella.

This is not bad for a second sequel to a B-movie without the franchise's big name star. At least, it's not that bad for the first half. I like Rio. I like the kid. I like Sloan and Xian. I like this until Sloan goes get the guns. The movie misses an opportunity when Frank gets them out of jail. Right there and then, he could make them an offer they couldn't refuse. In exchange for Isabella, he forces Sloan to fight in his private tournament where he can make a bundle with his clients in attendance. After a series of grueling fights, Sloan would do the big climatic fight against Martine. Sasha Mitchell is a pretty good actor with good charms and functional fighting. This is almost good.

i may be in the minority here,but i actually liked this movie.for a straight to video martial arts movie,it isn't all that bad.trust me,i've seen a lot worse movies of this genre,some of which have(inexplicably)had a theatrical release.anyway back to this movie.what did i like about it?i liked the dynamic of the wise(cracking)mentor and the younger,cocky student.Dennis Chan plays the mentor Xian,while Sasha Mitchell plays the young hero.there are some funny lines from both and they both play off each other very well.Mitchell is fairly credible as an action hero.i'm not sure if he has any martial arts experience,but if not,then the fight scenes are very well choreographed.there are some great fights in this movie.Chan is also very good in his role as the sidekick.the fact that the movie had some levity is also a positive.also,unlike in many movies of the genre, where the acting is forced or over the top,that isn't the case here the actors know they're not doing Hamlet.the plot may not be original,but the material is handled as well as any other martial art flick.so, at the risk of being hunted down and shot,i give this movie a 7/10(oh,that's right,i can't be hunted down and shot,because no one knows who i am. (big raspberry)

My review was written in January 1993 after watching the film on Live video cassette.

Third entry in the series that four years ago helped make Jean-Claude Van Damme a star is a routine martial arts pic that benefits from attractive Brazilian location photography. Briefly released theatrically lat fall, the film has better-than-average chances for a video following.

Repeating from part two, Sasha Mitchell plays the uppity hero, a kickboxing champ headed to Rio de Janeiro for a tournament. Once arrived, Mitchell is befriended by street urchin Noah Verduzco and saves his young sister (Althea Miranda) from the clutches of brothel owner Richard Comar.

Coincidentally, Comar also manages evil kickboxer Ian Jaklin. Predictably Miranda is kidnapped and Mithcell is ordered to throw the big match against Jacklin to protect her. A corny happy ending sets the stage for yet another sequel.

Mitchell, unlike most of the protagonists in this genre an actor first and martial artist second, is a very personable lead and acquits himself well in the action scenes. Supporting cast is nondescript.

This is actually my favorite "Kickboxer" movie of all the follow ups. This movie is actually lighter and a little easier on the nerves with the distracting and beautiful backdrop of Rio De Janeiro Brazil.

Sasha Mitchell expertly reprises his role of David Sloan as only he can and I was very happy to see a repeat performance by Dennis Chan as Xian.

The action is good in this movie and the story well written. The dialogue flows and the characters(down to even the most minute ones) work well together to make this a well rounded, well thought out and easy to watch movie.

Sasha Mitchell's character of David Sloan is also more believable in this movie and it is easy to see him as "human" instead of just a "kick ass machine" like he is normally portrayed. I enjoyed getting to see the more human side of him and he displays his great sense of humor (however so subtly, but effectively)in numerous places throughout the movie.

Dennis Chan and Sasha Mitchell are a wonderful compliment to each other and are believable in their characters. I wish they could have made more movies together.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes good action, beautiful locale and good flow in a movie.