Hollywood must have thought it was worth a shot. Hard Target 2 attempts to capitalise on the name recognition from the 1993 action film directed by John Woo. But, this direct-to-video sequel is a woeful effort. Woo and Jean-Claude Van Damme are nowhere in sight.
Wes Baylor (Scott Adkins) is a mixed martial arts fighter who kills his best friend in a title shot. Feeling ashamed and suffering from Rambo syndrome, Baylor leaves the USA to compete in the fight clubs of Thailand. He’s approached by a MMA entrepreneur (Robert Knepper) who offers him one-million dollars for a rumble in the jungle. Baylor takes the bait and finds himself duped into becoming the prey in a pay-to-play manhunt in the jungles of Myanmar.
Don’t mistake Hard Target 2 for mindless fun. It’s not. The story fails to make sense. The world of MMA couldn’t be so big that Baylor wouldn’t be aware of a fight promoter who offers a million dollars per match. He accepts the mysterious offer without checking the guy out.
Then, as Baylor begins his race to the border to get out of harm’s way, the promoter hands him a million dollars in jewels and says it’s his, if he makes it out alive. Why would you give him the jewels? He has no choice but to run for his life. The jewels could fall into a river or lake and become lost forever. If you tell a guy that your hunting party is going to kill him if he doesn’t run, then that should be all the incentive he needs. Run, or die. You don’t need to risk the valuables. The story is most illogical, most of the time.
Bad script, bad acting. Adkins offers nothing to the action hero ranks. He’s dull and obviously getting bad direction. Rest of the cast stinks it up as well.
Baylor finds an Asian beauty (Ann Truong) in the middle of the jungle. Fancy that. She’s forced to flee with the fighter after the hunters decide to make her the catch of the day. Truong’s voice doesn’t match the film, so there may be some bad dubbing.
John Woo has long since left for his native China, after a stint making Hollywood movies in the 1990s. Somehow, I think he would strip the name from this foul sequel if he could. – Movie Chambers
