I might have found an easy fix when this happens. I just experimented on a few levels with it and it definitely has to do with reloading a checkpoint.

But it seems Power Kick still works, and my melee comes back afterwards 9 times out of 10. Try it out, when you die and are unable to melee...find the nearest kickable object. It fixes it for me most of the time.

But it seems Power Kick still works, and my melee comes back afterwards 9 times out of 10. Try it out, when you die and are unable to melee...find the nearest kickable object. It fixes it for me most of the time.

Glad you found something that works for you. Unfortunately it didn't help me, I kicked a car about 10 times with nothing to show for it but a sore foot.