Hard Target 2

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[1][2] 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.[3][4][5] It is available on DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital HD.[6][7] It is the second film in the Hard Target franchise.

Hard Target 2
Official DVD cover
Directed byRoel Reiné
Produced byChris Lowenstein
Written by
  • Dominic Morgan
  • Matthew Harvey
Starring
Music by
CinematographyRoel Reiné
Edited byRadu Ion
Distributed byUniversal 1440 Entertainment
Release date
  • September 6, 2016 (2016-09-06)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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 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, 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 hunts Baylor with a sniper rifle at a waterfall, but Baylor goes underwater, sneaks up on Maduka, and kills him. 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, 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.

After running towards the border, Tha and Baylor come across a field full of landmines. Aldrich and the party arrive at the edge of the minefield, having tracked Baylor via the GPS. Tobias, angered by the death of his father, enters the minefield and dies by triggering it. The explosion gives Baylor and Tha enough time to hide in a cave, where Tha finds her missing brother, who is revealed as a previous target of Aldrich's group. He had managed to evade the hunting group's detection and hide.

In the morning, Tha and her brother run away, leaving Baylor behind. Tha and her brother are captured, and Baylor rescues them by capturing Landon. Tha then kills Sofia. Meanwhile, Landon is killed by Aldrich for recording all of the events, which was forbidden. Baylor, Tha, and her brother all reach the border and wonder how Aldrich continuously captures them. They find the tracker in the money belt. Baylor takes on the soldiers working for Aldrich and remaining hunters alone while Tha and her brother hide. Esparto goes after Tha and her brother and is killed. Meanwhile, Baylor runs away with the boat from the army camp and heads towards the border.

Pursued by the army, Baylor manages to reach the border bridge, where he faces Aldrich and Madden in a final showdown. Finally, Tha uses the money belt to bribe the Army General into killing Aldrich. Having survived the ordeal, Baylor returns to Thailand with Tha to teach children Taekwondo.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Tyler Foster of DVD Talk rated it 1/5 stars and wrote, "As mindless entertainment, all Reine and screenwriters Matt Harvey and Dominic Morgan really need is some consistency, but none of them seem to care."[8]

Joblo.com rated it 5/10 and described it as "A disappointment".[9]

References
  1. Heath, Paul (June 16, 2016). "There is a 'Hard Target 2' and it looks amazing". thehollywoodnews.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  2. "Hard Target 2, Blu-ray & DVD (Universal)". cityonfire.com. July 11, 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  3. Vo, David (June 15, 2016). "Action Maestro JOHN WOO Set To Produce HARD TARGET 2 Starring SCOTT ADKINS". MAAC. maactioncinema.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  4. "HARD TARGET 2 - 2016". blu-ray.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  5. McNab, Spencer (June 18, 2016). "This Exists: HARD TARGET 2 Trailer, Starring Scott Adkins And Rhona Mitra". screenanarchy.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  6. Saathoff, Evan (2016-08-26). "HARD TARGET 2 Hunts Down Some Decent Low Budget Action". Birth.Movies.Death. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  7. Hard Target 2 IMDb
  8. Foster, Tyler (12 September 2016). "Hard Target 2 (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  9. Arrow In The Head Reviews, HARD TARGET 2 (2016), Retrieved 2 December 2016
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