‘Kill ‘Em All 2’ VOD Review
Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jacqueline Fernandez, Andrei Lenart, Peter Stormare, Maria Conchita Alonso, Talia Asseraf | Written by Jim Agnew | Directed by Valeri Milev
Kill ‘Em All 2 picks up seven years after the events of the original, which makes sense since there’s seven years between the films, with Phillip (Jean-Claude Van Damme, The Last Mercenary, Hard Target) reconnected with his daughter Vanessa (Jacqueline Fernandez; Mrs. Serial Killer, Tell It Like a Woman) and the two of them hiding out in southern Italy.
They obviously didn’t do a good job of it, as within the film’s first few minutes they’re attacked by goons working for Vlad Petrovic (Andrei Lenart; Kingsman: The Secret Service, Crossing Over) who is out to avenge the death of his brother Dimitri who was killed in the first film. This puts them on the run, trying to stay alive long enough to deal with Vlad and his crew, and the only way to do that is to kill ’em all.
I haven’t seen the original, and to be honest I’d actually forgotten it existed until I looked it up on IMDb, so I can’t compare the two. And that might be a good thing as apart from a mostly new cast, Kill ‘Em All 2 also has a new director Valeri Milev (Re-Kill, Bullets of Justice) and writer, Jim Agnew (Giallo, The Capture).
They’ve delivered a fairly standard DTV action film that allows for two other characters from the first film, Agents Holman (Peter Stormare; The Ritual Killer, Constantine) and Sanders (Maria Conchita Alonso; Fear City, Predator 2) to make brief appearances. In the case of Alonso, it’s a more like a cameo that looks like it was shot in her living room. Actress Talia Asseraf (Night Caller, Skincare) also returns, but playing a new character which may be confusing to those who have seen the original.
And when I say they’ve delivered a standard plot, I mean it. You’ll be two steps ahead of Kill ‘Em All 2’s characters almost from the start. It’s the usual assortment of double and triple crosses as characters plot revenge centred around a flash drive worth millions. This leads to infiltrating bank vaults and impenetrable villas, car chases, and fights against as many enemies as a low budget will buy, which isn’t many.
Thankfully, while sparsely populated and fairly generic apart from some creatively brutal blade work, Kill ‘Em All 2’s fight scenes are reasonably frequent and competently executed. Stunt coordinator Simone Belli (Once Upon a Time in London, Ferrari) gets help from a surprisingly agile Van Damme, who still has decent moves, even if the look of pain on his face after a high kick near the start is the most believable thing in the film.
Cinematographer Angelo Stramaglia (Hard Night Falling, Almost Dead) and composer Aldo Shllaku (The Comeback Trail, The Price We Pay) help keep Kill ‘Em All 2 moving along on its way to a final confrontation that involves some weapons left over from World War II and a nice visual reference to the Charles Bronson film The Evil That Men Do.
In the end, Kill ‘Em All 2 is a serviceable DTV action film and nothing more, but it also makes no claim to be anything else. Even the cast realized this, and half the fun is watching Lenart and Stormare chew the scenery. Van Damme fans will enjoy seeing him kick ass, but that’s all there is on offer here. It’s not on the level of Van Damme’s other recent release, Darkness of Man, but it’s still better than anything Steven Segal has done in the past twenty years. It’s too bad that’s all it is because Milev has shown flashes of potential in the past, but none of it is on display here.
**½ 2.5/5
Kill ‘Em All 2 is available on Digital and VOD Platforms from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
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