Martial arts action star sensation Scott Adkins (Expendables 2, Undisputed III, Ninja: Shadow of a Tear) is back in vivid motion with Universal's Hard Target 2, which pays homage to the original film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and directed by John Woo. Adkins plays a disgraced MMA fighter forced to run through the jungles of Thailand, pursued by killers (led by Robert Knepper and Rhona Mitra), but being the proficient fighter that he is, Adkins proves to be a "hard target." Directed by genre specialist Roel Rene, the film is a crackling entertainment geared for fans of the genre and Adkins emerges a true action star in every sense of the word.
I really enjoyed Hard Target 2. It's one of your best-looking movies to date. What are your thoughts on that?
Roel did an amazing job. He's brilliant. He's so organized. I was so impressed with him. He's his own camera operator and his own DP. He's right there with you. He works so hard. He's very passionate about making movies. You know I work hard as well. It was a great experience working in Thailand. The Thai stunt team lets you kick them in the head for real. We had great actors. I wished the script was a little bit more gritty and real, but it's a fun movie. I wished it had been a little more like First Blood, but I'm glad to hear you liked it.
It's got a John Woo flavor to it. Obviously, it's paying homage to the first movie. There are the doves and Robert Knepper is using the same gun that Lance Henriksen used in the first one.
Universal wanted to keep it separate from the original, but Roel wanted to link it. The gun was his idea. It didn't end up in the movie, but we wanted Robert to be Henriksen's brother. We very much wanted it to be a direct sequel. We're such huge fans of the original. John Woo is my favorite director and Van Damme is my favorite actor, and I still think it's one of Van Damme's best films. Top three, if not the top.
Why did you say yes to this project? You've followed in Van Damme's footsteps before, so why do that one more time?
I didn't know if I could do it at the time. I'd just been cast in Doctor Strange and there was a scheduling conflict. Marvel graciously let me do it. I wasn't sure if I should be in another movie linked to Van Damme because I realize how it looks. When I read the script, I thought, If they don't get me for this, who are they gonna get? They're not going to get anyone better suited than me. There was the whole martial arts aspect to it. I'm such a rabid fan of the original. It's better that it's me than someone else. I just went for it.
You're known for being the complete package when it comes to martial arts. Address your styles used in the movie and how you were able to incorporate your strengths in martial arts for this project.
It's not like I'm a Kung Fu guy, but I train in Mixed Martial Arts. I go to the gym with some fighters and we train in martial arts. I've done some Kickboxing and Taekwondo, so that is the style. I don't have to adapt to that. This part was perfect for me to play. The Thai coordinator had some ideas for the fights that were a little bit crazy, a little too fantastic, and I tried to ground it a bit more. Roel wanted me to use a big fancy kick to kill the opponent in the ring at the beginning so that I could bring it out again at the end. It's just me doing my thing.
Your costars Rhona Mitra and Robert Knepper are great in the movie and elevate it a great deal. Talk about working with them.
Robert is a great guy. Loved working with him. Such a fantastic actor. How about the scene where the killers are introduced to the target? It's all in one shot, one take. You can only do that with someone like Robert. He's a great actor. And Rhona's fantastic. Very lucky to have her. She's a huge star in her own right. She was a blast to work with. We had a fight sequence together. It's difficult working with women with fights. I don't like it so much because you feel pretty bad if you hurt them, whereas with a guy it's "Hey, yeah, it's cool." So it's a little tricky with women. But she was great. She gave 100% into the action sequence.
Say something about that kick where you kick two motorcyclists at the same time. It's a great shot.
They had something else in mind, and I said, "Why don't I just split kick these two guys?" They said, "Can you do that?" I said, "I think so." So we lined them up and I just did it. That's the great thing about working in Thailand. You're always warm, no need to stretch. We had a better angle, but I kept missing them, so we changed the angle. I just did it. I think I saw it in a Jackie Chan film.
This is your second movie in a row with Universal, after Jarhead 3. What's it like working with Universal?
It's good. It's a higher end with these straight to video productions. That's great. I believe they bought two of my upcoming movies as well. They liked working with me. Hopefully we can continue and do more movies together.
You've got a handful of movies coming out that I'm eager to see. Say something about Boyka: Undisputed IV and Eliminators. And you just wrapped a new one with Marko Zaror and Cung Le called Savage Dog.
I'm really proud of Boyka. I've seen it; I'm very happy with it. It's the same quality as the other two I did. The fans are going to dig it. Boyka goes into uncharted territory. We're taking the character in a new direction, but we've still got the fights. You can't do the same thing again and again. Eliminators I shot with Wade Barrett from WWE. I'm really happy with that film; I love how it turned out. I did two brilliant fights for that film. Savage Dog: Loved working with Jesse Johnson, the director. Great director, and we're going to collaborate again very soon. Brilliant working with Cung Le, an amazing martial artist. Brilliant working with Marko Zaror. I love that guy. Such a nice, humble guy. Brilliant performer. It's a full on fight movie, but it has a very intelligent script by Jesse. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be different, but it's still going to deliver what people expect from me.
If Hard Target 2 is a success, and if they offered you Part 3, would you be down for that?
Yeah. I just don't know ... how can the same shit happen to the same guy twice? (Laughing.) I don't know how they'd figure it out, but I'd be open to it, of course.
Say something to your fans. I hope you can keep going, Scott, I really do. It's hard work you do; I've seen you do it. I hope you can continue doing this for as long as you want to do it.
Well, thanks, David. You've seen me on set. I've got a strong work ethic. You have to in this climate. We're making movies in a very short amount of time. The DVD market does not make the money that it used to. What I want to say is: Support the films if you like them. Support them with your money. If they don't make money, we won't do more. I need your support. Please pay to see them by legal means so that I can keep doing them.
About
david j. moore :
Hard Target 2 will be released on DVD and Blu Ray on September 6th. 2016. david j. moore is a contributing writer for Fangoria, FilmFax, Ultra Violent, VideoScope, and many other magazines and websites around the world. He is also the author of The Good, the Tough, and the Deadly: Action Movies and Stars.
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