Hard Target 2 is a 2016 American action film directed by Roel Reiné, starring Scott Adkins, Robert Knepper, Temuera Morrison and Rhona Mitra.

It is a reboot of,[2] or sequel to,[3] the 1993 film Hard Target, which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme as a homeless cajun fighting a human hunting operation in New Orleans.

The new film sees Adkins as a disgraced MMA champion who is unwittingly hired to act as prey in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the jungles of Myanmar.

Professional MMA fighter Wes Baylor takes on Jonny Sutherland in a welterweight championship fight at the fictional Chateau de Vegas Hotel.

Hard Target 2 was first mentioned in the media of the Netherlands, director Roel Reiné's country, in August 2015, with filming slated to start in October of that year.

[2] Nonetheless, the movie was given a number of stylistic flourishes and action sequences reminiscent of his style, such as shots of doves, a mexican standoff, and a motorcycle gunfight.

[7] Temuera Morrison, who plays Aldrich's right-hand man Madden, had appeared in two of Reiné's previous Thailand films, The Marine 2 and The Scorpion King 3.

She originally sent a taped audition for the role of Sofia, but Reiné asked her to play Tha instead, and travelled to Sydney for an in-person interview before giving her the job.

Also present in the scene is her Raging Phoenix co-star Kazu Patrick Tang, who served as the film's assistant stunt coordinator.

[25] Production services were provided by Living Films, a Chiang Mai-based outfit founded by American expatriate Chris Lowenstein, and a frequent partner for Western productions shot in the country, including Reiné's The Marine 2 and The Man with the Iron Fists 2[4][26] Seng Kawee of Seng Stunt Team, who choreographed all of Reiné's Thailand efforts, and whom he lists as his favorite stunt coordinator to work with,[27] returned for this movie as well.

[22] Unlike for the Thailand-shot Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, Adkins did not have the luxury of working with his preferred choreographer, Sweden's Tim Man.

[13] The sports arena shown in early scenes was located in Bangkok, rather than in Las Vegas as portrayed in the story, and the fateful MMA fight was captured in a single day.

[31] Among the bonus features included on the disc were an audio commentary with director Roel Reiné, stars Scott Adkins and Robert Knepper, composer Trevor Morris and camera operator Rolf Dekens, three behind-the-scenes featurettes, two outtakes montages and a short video biography of the film's fictional manhunters.

[33] In early January 2023, analytics service FlixPatrol reported that, thanks to its addition to the streaming platform's catalogue in several international markets, Hard Target 2 had reached fourth place in its Netflix worldwide feature film chart.

[34] Hard Target 2 received a polarized reception, depending largely on whether it was viewed as a companion piece to the 1993 theatrical release, or as a standalone product.

Rob Hunter of Slashfilm said "[t]he action is less effective overall, but worse, it fails to even approach the original's absolute bonkers execution [...] The addition of CG hurts as well, [...] and [the] female sidekick's subplot does little but drag the film down.

"[35] Tyler Foster of DVD Talk rated it one out of five and wrote, "[a]s mindless entertainment, all Reine and screenwriters Matt Harvey and Dominic Morgan really need is some consistency, but none of them seem to care.

Although he complained that the film was similar to Reiné's recent The Condemned 2, he acknowledged that the Dutchman "knows his way around these movies and proves more than capable of delivering a slick, sleek, and hard-hitting experience.

"[39] Sean Radican of MMA Torch was most enthusiastic, writing that "director Roel Reiné deserves a ton of credit for making this film look as good as it does", while he praised Adkins' "sympathetic character and a fantastic cast of villains surrounding him".

Wall, a BAFTA Award nominee for his video game music, had previously written additional cues for some of Morris' TV series work, and received his first feature film credit as a main composer.