Recently relocated from the relatively calm gridiron realm of corn fed Iowa, Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) has come to the tropical Florida wilds looking to get rid of the massive chip weighing down his shoulder. His mom Margot (Leslie Hope) hopes the change will do her troubled boy some good, and she can’t help but worry that the constant fighting is starting to have a negative impact on her younger son, tennis protégé Charlie (Wyatt Smith).
After Jake is lured into a bout of underground mixed martial arts fighting by Ryan (Cam Gigandet), a local rich kid, things start looking like they’re worse than ever. But not all is what it seems and with the help of disciplined Brazilian teacher Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) and the love of fellow student Baja Miller (Amber Heard) this good kid going down a wrong path might just get things going in the right direction. Yet, he just can’t back down from the hard work necessary to make it a reality.
Sitting down to watch Never Back Down, I admit I wasn’t expecting much from the new Karate Kid-style melodrama. Just know, for me to say the film rose above those expectations isn’t exactly a compliment, it’s just my way of saying the picture wasn’t anywhere near as horrific as I imagined it would be. As a matter of fact, at times it was even kind of fun.
Not that it isn’t a bunch of silly hooey, as this Karate Kid rip-off is just another one of the countless underdog sports movies (including, of all things, the climax of Rocky V). Let’s just say that, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, and not a single second of this film is going to remotely strike you as anything approaching new and/or fresh. That said, if you’re one of the few to have never seen Rocky, Hoosiers, Varsity Blues, Lionheart, Friday Night Lights or even The Fast and the Furious then you’re probably going to enjoy the heck out of this.
It’s relatively well directed by Jeff Wadlow (Cry_Wolf), the acting is universally solid (if unspectacular) and the whole thing is paced so well it’s almost over before you realize it. It’s an easy sit, and considering the volume of teenage-coming-of-age dogs I’ve seen over the years that truly is a trait worthy of applause. Just don’t expect anything that’s going to knock your socks of or surprise you in anyway whatsoever. Even the most vapidly air-headed bimbo is going to know how this is all going to play itself out. The film is a solid “okay”, nothing more, and if I had to pin it down and make a recommendation, I’d say forget about renting it and wait for it to hit Cable.
In terms of the disc, this “Extended Beat-Down” Blu-ray edition is relatively solid. There are some reasonably well done featurettes on the film’s making and on the different fighting styles on display, while the commentary track featuring Wadlow and Tom Cruise clone writer Chris Hauty is an easy listen. Admittedly the enhanced hi-def feature allowing you to look at the fights from alternate angles and blow-by-blow is kind of cool, but after the first couple it gets old fast and the red icon flashing in the center of the screen is annoying to the extreme. There are also some deleted scenes but I say skip them, none of the offering anything remotely of interest or value.
