Movie Review - Never Back Down

Director - Jeff Wadlow.

Cast - Sean Farris, Amber Heard, Djimon Hounsou, Cam Gigandet, Wyatt Smith and Leslie Hope.

I remember when my Dad came home with our first video recorder and plonked the gigantic black box beneath the television. There was that all too rare hush of expectation as Ferris Bueller's Day Off began and there was not a word was spoken until the credits rolled an hour and a half later. So began a relentless series of trips to Video Mania in a quest to quench our VHS appetites. Over the course of that summer we chomped through what felt like hundreds of movies and hidden among them were two that were watched more than once - Karate Kid and No Retreat, No Surrender. Never Back Down is a throwback to those halcyon days and borrows heavily from their respective plots.

Jake Tyler feels lost; he has no outlet for the anger within him. He feels responsible for the death of his father who died having wrapped himself around a tree while drink driving. Jake was beside him in the passenger seat and survived. He channels this rage into his high school football but football alone can't contain it and he constantly finds himself ending up in fights. As a result of this he is expelled from school after school and is in a downward spiral. His mother can't relate to him and the absence of a father figure is keenly felt. His younger brother Charlie is a tennis prodigy and his talent wins him a scholarship to a respected tennis school in Orlando. And so the Tyler's move from Iowa to Orlando in search of stability and new beginnings.

The move does not go well initially. Jake's classmates are from the upper echelons of society and have never known hard times. Jake feels even more alienated than before. His brother finds that the tennis competition is far stronger in his new tennis school and is no longer a big fish in a small pond. Their mother Margot is again left to pick up the pieces. Jake's solution is take part in organised but illegal fights, a kind of teen Fight Club. His aggression is no longer enough to see him win through as the other fighters fight using a Mixed Martial Arts style. In order to compete and gain the respect of his peers he joins a dojo where the sensei Roquoa (Djimon Hounsou slumming it) takes him under his wing and hones not just his body but also his mind.

Of course this is old ground we're walking over so the real question is if there is anything fresh Never Back Down can offer. The answer is a resounding not really. The production values are very high and it has a music video type of feel to it that fits well. The two leads are fine though Sean Farris is like a young Tom Cruise and Amber Heard an even younger Scarlett Johansen, which is quite disconcerting. Tyler's rival, both in combat and romance, is Ryan McCarthy who is played well by Cam Gigandet. Unfortunately the fight scenes are not as spectacular as they could or should have been. A Mixed Martial Arts style is used which favours a lot of grappling and wrestling so the flow is constantly interrupted. The fight choreography is not inventive at all and bores quickly. Even the final fight that has been simmering throughout the whole film is a let down, which is a shame.

All in all Never Back Down is somewhat of a wasted opportunity. Then again if I'd watched it that Video Mania summer many years ago I might have loved it.