However, the decently orchestrated fight scenes are still more raw and choppy than necessary. Some of his wisdom in the gym is prominently glimpsed at times in the action scenes, such as a three-punch roundhouse-kick combination he takes Jake through early in the film, and the emphasis he places on controlling one’s breathing. Evan Peters balances some of that out as Jake’s friend Max Cooperman, an MMA fanatic who introduces Jake to Roqua’s gym and brings along some of the charm of his portrayal of Quicksilver.ĭjimon Hounsou is easily the highlight of the whole movie as the sage-like Roqua, emphatically insisting that his students not fight outside of the gym, providing Jake just the guidance that the young loose canon needs, and embodying a genuine example of a consummate mixed martial artist, heaving cinder blocks and kicking heavy bags several feet with ease. The best montage set to Red Jump Suit Apparatus’ “False Pretense.” If one is old enough, Never Back Down is frankly a little chilling in parts, with the kids relishing the chance to humiliate each other with their phone cameras. Never Back Down is arguably more enjoyable for its training montages over its martial arts fight scenes, the latter often resembling MTV music videos shot on cell phones, while the training side of the film shows Jake’s growth and the gradual control he gains over his anger. The first chapter of the series, 2008’s Never Back Down, focuses on Jake Tyler (Sean Faris), a hot-tempered kid who discovers a local MMA gym run by Jean Roqua, played by Djimon Hounsou, and finds an outlet to harness his anger issues. The fourth film in the series Never Back Down: Revolt, in particular , takes the series in a sharp new direction with filmmaker Kellie Madison directing as the series transitions to new territory. Though Chris Hauty has returned as screenwriter for each installment of the series, the Never Back Down movies have been something of a loosely tied-together martial arts anthology, with a handful of elements and characters continuing from one movie to the next as each tells its own story. Since then, the Never Back Down series has followed a similar path as the Undisputed franchise in really breaking out with its straight-to-video sequel Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown under the direction of Michael Jai White. Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes.The Never Back Down franchise has grown into a beloved martial arts movie series, but how do the movies rank? With the popularity of MMA, the Never Back Down franchise first kicked off in 2008, but while the original has its virtues, particularly in Djimon Hounsou’s MMA mentor performance, it didn’t really set the cinema screens on fire at the time. For those who make it to the final beatdown, however, the only pill worth taking is the one that makes you forget.ĭirected by Jeff Wadlow written by Chris Hauty director of photography, Lukas Ettlin edited by Victor Dubois and Debra Weinfeld music by Michael Wandmacher production designer, Ida Random produced by Craig Baumgarten and David Zelon released by Summit Entertainment. As Jake, his schoolyard nemesis (Cam Gigandet) and his martial-arts mentor (a slumming Djimon Hounsou) work out their daddy issues on one another, the movie speeds up and slows down as though controlled by a director in the grip of competing medications. Manifesting all the nuance and insight of a music video, “Never Back Down” plays like a pop-psychology seminar on fathers and sons. Enrolled in a high school where social status is determined by the ability to render peers unconscious with your bare hands, Jake finally discovers the therapeutic benefits of breaking faces. This will become an asset when the family moves to Florida to further the tennis aspirations of Jake’s younger brother (a delightful Wyatt Smith). Setting the tone immediately, this lunkheaded film by Jeff Wadlow opens with a brawl, from which we gather that the instigator, the Iowa teenager Jake Tyler (Sean Faris), has never heard of anger management. A “Fight Club” for high-schoolers, “Never Back Down” offers extreme fighting as the modern-day alternative to sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.
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