Max Havoc: Ring of Fire 2006

Max Havoc, Mickey Hardt, a retired kickboxing champion who now works as a sports photographer, is sent to a hotel on the outskirts of Seattle to photograph Suzy Blaine, Christina Cox, a rising tennis star. The assignment takes a sharp turn when Emile, Samuel Patrick Chu, a street-smart boy, steals the suitcase containing Max’s expensive camera and gear. During the escape, Emile loses a small piece of clothing bearing a label that points to a very old mission hidden in a no-go area.

Sister Caroline, Rae Dawn Chong, explains that a street gang is systematically frightening off long-established shopkeepers and coercing them into paying protection money. Max learns that Emile began stealing after his parents, who ran the local shops, were killed in an arson attack. While Max is still in the area, the gang threatens Sister Caroline for resisting the protection racket. Max steps in to defend the community, engaging the gangsters in combat, and he even spares a member named Ramon, Jorgito Vargas Jr., because he is Emile’s older brother.

The next day, Emile witnesses Ramon’s execution for alleged cowardice. Roger Tarso, the hotel owner where Max, Suzy, and her mother Denise Blaine, Linda Thorson, are staying, is determined to clear the slums to expand his property, and to keep the plan secret he has Emile hunted by his henchmen. Max and Suzy uncover Roger’s scheme and race to locate Emile, as danger closes in. They confront a web of intimidation led by Thug #1, Aaron Au, Thug #2, Curtis Hibbert, and Thug #3, Byron Brisco, while a figure named Zeus, Kerry Hansen, watches from the shadows. In the end, Max must face an enemy who seems to know his fighting style better than he does, pushing him to his limits.