Never Back Down

The Writers Guild of America needs to make sure the producers of Never Back Down also give writing credits to Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid), and Jim Uhls (Fight Club) because Never Back Down shamelessly steals from each and every one of them.

Sean Faris stars as Jake – a troubled kid from Iowa who has moved with his family to the, ahem, mean streets of suburban Florida. He has a great deal of anger and sadness built up inside due to some family history, and becomes somewhat of a school legend after a past incident from Iowa shows up on the internet. Of course, this leads to even more trouble as the school tough guy, Ryan (Cam Gigandet), wants to make a name for himself by knocking the stuffing out of Jake, who isn’t supposed to fight anymore, but has a bad temper.

When challenged, will Jake do what it takes to prepare for the battle?

Will he NEVER BACK DOWN?

Much like Step Up 2 The Streets (or just about any modern movie aimed at young people), Never Back Down is a movie that will thrill teenagers who don’t realize all of this has been done before (and better), while making movie fans have a sense of déjà vu that makes them giggle if they aren’t outraged. We have the white guy and the black guy racing on the beach like in Rocky III. We have a secretive group of young men who get together for brutal fisticuffs like in Fight Club (with the 21st century twist of recording it and putting it on the internet because we must pander to the youth). Never Back Down even has a Mr. Miyagi figure, some Cobra Kai action and a young hero drinking raw eggs as part of his training regiment! At least writer Chris Hauty throws in a Karate Kid joke to acknowledge what we are all thinking. You have to admire that kind of sense of humor, honesty and awareness.

Apart from turning Never Back Down into some sort of movie version of Name That Tune, the film is bad. Faris doesn’t have any range, and probably was hired more for his abs than acting chops, while Gigandet chews up the scenery like he is a gigantic, post-apocalyptic termite bent on destruction. Director Jeff Wadlow fills the movie with a constant drone of music in our ears (in a misguided attempt to set the mood) and more montages than an Oscars broadcast, while Hauty never backs down from using every cliché in the arsenal from the fish out of water to the girl attracted to the new guy to the big showdown at the climactic tournament.

Will the sequel be named Never Back Down 2 The Streets? Will Stallone show up in a cameo?

Never Back Down is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving intense sequences of fighting/violence, some sexuality, partying and language - all involving teens