Customer Reviews

Never Back Down [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

NEVER BACK DOWN is a teen-action-martial arts drama that has all the ingredients to entertain a VERY specific audience. The film isn't going to win awards for its story, but then again, what martial arts film ever had? The film has a very formulaic and routine storyline but what caught my notice are its action sequences. Please note that this is a review of the film's "Beat Down" edition that supposedly contains more punches and kicks, more blood and graphic violence.

A young man with an ill temper named Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) has been trying to keep his life together with his mother and younger brother after his father`s death. They move to another town from Iowa so his brother can pursue a tennis scholarship. Once in school, he gets baited by a pretty girl, Baja (Amber Heard), to a party that ended up with Jake getting his head kicked in by the resident "Beat Down" champ Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet). Frustrated, Jake enlists Max's (Evan Peters) aid to introduce him to a master of mixed martial arts named Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) with revenge on his mind. After training for sometime in the Dojo, Jake realizes more things about family, discipline and friendship; and more importantly controlling his anger. Jake isn't interested in fighting anymore. However, now that he's been training under Roqua, McCarthy is even more eager to fight Jake...

The film has all the elements we can relate to; family issues, bullying at school, forgiving oneself and atonement. At first impression, I thought it was just going to be a bad rethread of "The Karate Kid" with just more action and violence. Well, it actually is a rehash if you think about it in regards to its plot but the film is quite entertaining. The film actually explores the issues that often plague martial artists themselves and explores the relationship between Sensei and apprentice. Jake and Jean developed a common denominator to each other which is their failings in their family. McCarthy is a martial artist without discipline and as a result becomes a brash, arrogant fighter.

The direction by Jeff Wadlow knew what his goals were; and that is to provide popcorn entertainment. While the film does have a very unoriginal premise and frankly, those elements have almost been done to death; Wadlow manages to keep things small but focused. The pacing is quite competent enough to keep the viewer interested and never becomes too ambitious or pretentious by adding excess "fat" to the film's simple plot. There are some morality issues and quite a lot of preaching about the necessities of forgiving oneself. What helps the film along is that the relationship between Roqua and Jake were convincing enough and I was happy it took center stage rather than the sappy blossoming "teen love" between Jake and Baja. Just when does a Sensei know when his student has become the best he can be? When the sensei begins learning from his apprentice.

Now the film's main draw would have to be its fight sequences. For a Hollywood flick, I thought it was decently executed. Of course, the fights can never compare to the fight sequences choreographed by the legendary Yuen Woo-Ping or the best of Corey Yuen; but for the most part it was smooth enough to generate some intensity and pain in the proceedings. There is quite a bit of graphic violence in this dvd edition that stays within the realm of mixed martial arts. I credit the director that the managed to keep the scenes that make Faris and Gigandet look good and edit out the scenes that make them look bad. The fights were decent, and I thought the encounters were hard-hitting enough for what its worth. Just don't expect the fights to be in the same caliber as Asia's best martial arts action sequences.

Now, the film does have its share of problems. The performance by the supporting cast does seem a little too "wooden" at times. Max provides some of the film's 'comic relief' but you can see from miles away that he was a simple plot device to set up the film's final climax. Amber Heard who plays Baja is pretty, sexy and attractive but I think she had so little to work with, so I can't really criticize her acting that much. Well, she acted like a girl star-struck by the new boy in town and she does do that. Jake's Mom and little brother had limited screen time but they gave Jake more character development than what was provided by visuals alone.

Overall, I thought "Never Back Down" is an entertaining enough experience. It does play its cards well enough and it stayed focused on its main premise. Sure, its premise is pretty simple and very unoriginal; the stereotypical love triangle definitely got in the way but I guess there has to be something for everyone. Consider it a "Karate Kid" remake that focuses more on its action sequences rather than the drama. The film is pretty routine but it is a worthwhile watch for action junkies with its abundance of kicks and punches to satisfy that "fix".

Recommended for action junkies and a good rental for everybody else. [3 ½ Stars]

From the trailer I assumed the best and I was rewarded. The action is fast paced, each scene is useful and masterfully written. If you like UFC or MMA fighting this movie kick serious a... You know it, I know it. So there is nothing like a good old brawl reminiscent of the original Rocky. The soundtrack is the strong suit of this movie it adds aggression and motivation. Watch it I strongly recommend it.

Its easy to (and many already have) compare Never Back Down to the classic Karate Kid, as the plot is quite similar, but this film is even more alike a lesser known (though pretty decent) B-movie from the early 90's titled "Showdown" Showdown is basically a stronger more agressive version of Karate Kid that actually had some decent fighting action and featured Billy Blanks (not a great actor, but he can sure fight). Never Back Down is also a more agressive version of Karate Kid with bigger and better fights, though I would say not quite as good as some of the fights in Showdown. Reason being is all the frantic editing that is typical of American martial art films that still remains a looong way from the beautiful straight shots featured in Asian cinema fighting. The fights still look and feel very intense thanks to close directing and smacking sound effects, and are still fun to enjoy in their own right. But in the end, its the combination of elements that come together and make this movie enjoyable as a whole.

Ok, so the story isn't completely original and a few might say eh, it's a bit cheesy. But for the kind of movie this is I must say there was a little more effort and thought put into than I expected. While I have already mentioned the fights aren't up to par to Asian cinema, they are still fun nonetheless. In addition to the hard sound effects and close directing, the booming soundtrack and flashy arenas (take an all-out packed club for example) add to the guilty pleasure of watching the fight action. And while most of the film consists of training, the meat of the fights is a good 15 minutes at the film's climax. As for that story, it features a young man named Jake, still in school who has moved to a new town (Orlando, FL) and gets the beat-down from another boy who is the top MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) at the school (this guy even sets up fights under the football bleachers). Jake goes off to train with a MMA master (Djimon Hounsou - a nice addition to the film I might add) and goes through a series of exercises and the usual you'd expect from these kind of films. Serioulsy its all too much like Showdown but I admit I couldn't help getting into this version.

Karate Kid is a classic yes, but a bit outdated and Showdown (despite some good fights) is also outdated and just a bit too cheesy, so here's the newest version of the classic storyline we can't help but enjoy - it's flashier, harder, punchier (no pun) and actually put together fairly well. It's very typical American martial arts film style, but its a lot better than most I have seen - it's just a lot of fun.

Acting - 3.5
Action - 4
Characters - 3.5
Story - 4
Overall - 4

I'm not even a MMA fan... and I absolutely LOVE this movie!!! I must've watched it at least 10 + times after the first day I got it, I liked it so much. I wasn't even expecting anything special from this movie at all. Especially knowing it was a MMA movie. The back of the DVD and the description on this page summarizes it well. It's pretty much a little bit of "The Karate Kid" mixed with a little bit of "Fight Club." So if you like those movies (or just one or the other), I think you will definitely find some things in this movie entertaining.

Before I couldn't STAND MMA. I seriously HATED it with a PASSION because I thought it was just so stupid! Watching a couple of sweaty, bald, fugly dudes rolling around on the ground inside a caged ring like idiots for how long God knows what...? What was so special and appealing about that?!? But this movie opened my eyes and showed me a little bit about the basics, and what this sport was/is all about!

Yes, it's pretty violent--but hey, this is a Fight/MMA film. If you're not a Fight movie fan, of course you're not going to like it. If you're not a fan of this genre--move on. Stick to your Disney movies. Fight movies SERIOUSLY need to make a huge comeback. Not just with MMA, but with traditional martial arts as well. Just like The late 80s and early 90s when Fight movies were at their prime. How I miss those movies being taken seriously. Anyway, NON-MMA fans, give this movie a chance, just like I did. I think you'll be glad you did.

With plenty of blood, spit, sweat, crazy and deadly "Beat-downs"... As well as....... EYE CANDY ALERT!! EYE CANDY ALERT!! EYE CANDY ALERT!! 'Sean Faris' (the male lead, Jake) looks EXACTLY like a young 'Tom Cruise.' Ryan, who is Jake's vicious and merciless nemesis... well, he is just... OMG... Those wash-board abs!! Those piercing and menacing blue eyes! That golden tan flesh! HAWT! HAWT! HAWT! *fans self* Ladies (and Gents) should not be disappointed in this area of the film, LOL. All of the characters are pretty spunky and have some interesting personalities and backgrounds, too. The MMA Master (or our 'Mr. Miyagi', I guess, if you will), 'Djimon Hounsou', who trains Jake throughout the movie was the PERFECT choice for this role. And how about this... There's an actual plot and a great lesson to be learned here. I certainly wasn't expecting that.

Now, I consider "Never back Down" to be one of my all-time favorite Fight Movies in my collection. Oh, and about MMA--it's certainly not for everybody, but this movie pretty much breaks it down for you if you're interested in knowing at least little bit about the sport. I was not disappointed. Especially since I am currently studying -Aikido-. *dodges stones thrown* I know! I know! I know! Yep. TOTALLY. DIFFERENT. PLANET. I get it. But this movie showed me exactly how essential 'ground-work' is when it comes to mastering, re-mastering, and cross-training into various martial art styles.

So heeey... I actually get it now! "Ya' gotta mix it up!!" ;)

The previews for this movie looked much better than the movie actually is. This had a very stupid plot. A high schooler (who looks like he's been out of high school for about 10 years now) moves to a new city where everybody seems to be obsessed with mixed martial arts. And everybody is stinking rich. He goes to a friend's house/mansion where there is a party with naked girls making out and a fight club in the back yard. And because he punched somebody one time, he's now forced to fight the Brad Pitt wannabe of the school.

Oh, and random people in traffic will threaten to run you off the road for being stopped at a stop sign and then try to beat you up. But you wont have any of that cuz you got mad skills.

Whatever. The Karate Kid this is not. Some of the fights are shot well, but all of the characters are poorly written and poorly acted.

Ok, first off, people need to see this movie for what it is; a fast paced action flick full of girls, cars and fighting. This film is aimed squarely at a younger audience (like myself, 18) who enjoy some good action, even if it doesn't have the best plot, which, I will admit, is very thin. And to all the old farts giving their snobish reviews, go watch romantic comedies or some independent film and talk about how sophisticated it is and how clever you are for watching it. This movie is about adrenaline and thats about it. If your too old to remember what that is, then avoid this movie.

Karate kid this is not, although it's not anything new. shares the same themes as karate kid. However, what I liked is that the main kid is nothing like Daniel Laruso. this kid, Jake, wears a big chip on his shoulder, actually likes to fight, but struggles w/ growing up and learning to overcome w/ o fighting. While it's completely MTV generation type stuff, I was surprised that I liked it. The training scenes, anything w/ Djimon Honsou and this kid Sean Farris and the fight scenes were really what made the flick watchable. I wouldn't buy it, but I'd watch on youtube again. Was better than I'd expected. But you're not going to get emotionally involved..unless you're a teen girl or boy.

Okay, I know I am almost 20 and a girl, but I love this movie, and not just for all of the rippling abs and sweaty workout scenes. I acknowledge the simple plot line and average acting and just enjoy it for the story that it is. It is entertaining and that's why I love it. Also, I've noticed (even though this is pretty shallow) that if you are a girl and you tell a guy you like this movie they will instantly think way more highly of you... It's very funny to watch a guy's reaction when you tell them. Do it for fun sometime.

Excellent quality blu ray for never back down. Awesome fighting action of teenage life with some school bullies. Kick boxing American flick at it's finest. Check this movie out and you would feel the intensity after watching it. You may want to register for a kick boxing class in the future. Happy viewing.

This was another purchase for my son. I didn't think I would like this movie, but it turned out to be a well made movie. I liked it. My son loves it; he's watched it a lot!