On August 20, 1993, general American audiences were blown away by the release of action megastar Jean-Claude Van Damme’s newest spectacle Hard Target. Helmed by asian action maestro John Woo in his English-language debut, Hard Target was a helicopter kick to the face in terms of hardcore, ultimate action.
But after it’s success, Woo and Van Damme went their separate ways to deliver us their next ultimate action classics. Woo with Broken Arrow and Face/Off and Van Damme with Timecop and Street Fighter (it’s an ultimate action classic. Not up for discussion). And as they went further along in their careers, it seemed they would not reunite to give us the sequel we so anxiously wanted. Then, in 2016, we were blindsided by the news that a Hard Target 2 was on the way. Immediately, my heart did a backflip. But alas, there was a catch.
Hard Target 2 would not feature the epic re-teaming of Van Damme and Woo, but the combo of ultimate action legend in the making Scott Adkins, and the king of the DTV action sequel himself, Roel Reine. Hard Target 2 is a 2016 American action film directed by Roel Reiné. It is a direct-to-video sequel of the 1993 American action film Hard Target and stars Scott Adkins, Robert Knepper, Ann Truong, Rhona Mitra, and Temuera Morrison. It continues the human hunt theme in the jungles of Myanmar and Thailand.
PLOT! Professional MMA fighter Wes Baylor takes on Jonny Sutherland in a match at the MGM Grand. Upset with the judges’ score, Baylor tries to knock Sutherland out and accidentally kills him. Overwhelmed with guilt, Baylor enters self-imposed exile in Thailand.
Six months later, Baylor is still haunted by the death of Sutherland and competes in underground fight clubs. A man, Aldrich, watches Baylor fight, and impressed with him, offers him $1 million for a private one-off match in Myanmar.
Upon arrival, Baylor is informed that he will be the victim of a lethal hunt organized by Aldrich. Baylor is given a water bottle and money belt which, unbeknown to him, has a GPS tracker hidden inside. The hunting party consists of Sofia, bullfighter Esparto, video game designer Landon, Maduka, Jacob “Texas” Zimling, Zimling’s son Tobias, Aldrich’s right-hand man Madden, and Aldrich himself. In addition, the party is accompanied by a group of corrupt Myanmar Army soldiers.
Maduka shoots Baylor with a sniper rifle at a waterfall, but Baylor goes underwater, sneaks up on Maduka, and beats him to death. While fleeing from them, Baylor comes across a local woman named Tha, who helps him get to the border. As the hunt continues, Aldrich gives the hunters motorcycles equipped with guns and rocket launchers. Baylor fights them and commandeers
a motorcycle, leaving Tha alone. Zimling and Tobias attempt to kill Tha, but Tobias has a brief change of heart and flees. Tha then kills Zimling with a machete, while Baylor fights Sofia. After knocking her unconscious, he regroups with Tha and they run away. The two go to Tha’s house to treat wounds, where Baylor learns something strange about Tha and her village.
