NEVER BACK DOWN FULL MOVIE HOW TO
NEVER BACK DOWN FULL MOVIE MOVIE

Jean Roqua: You cannot live in the past, my friend. Jake Tyler: The night my dad died, I just let him drive. Jake Tyler: Wait! You think this is what I want? To never train with you again? Just to give some asshole the show that he's looking for? I let you get away with it once, not twice.

NEVER BACK DOWN FULL MOVIE MOVIE

This movie isn't bad just because it follows a formula slavishly but because it does so without verve or passion.Jean Roqua: Do this and you can never come back in my gym again. Never Back Down is too vanilla, too lifeless for even the most open-minded viewer to connect with such one-dimensional screen personalities.

If, however, a movie like this is supposed to energize an audience into caring about the main character and investing something in his success, it doesn't happen. If the purpose of a movie like this is to recycle a stock plot and present it unchanged with different actors going through the motions and mouthing lame dialogue, then Never Back Down does what it's intended to do, and director Jeff Wadlow hits the mark. Despite his limitations, he has no difficulty out-acting his pretty but uninspired love interest, Amber Heard, and the movie's ever-smirking villain, Cam Gigandet (who, unsurprisingly, is a veteran of The O.C.). However, while Faris may have Cruise's looks, he doesn't have the mega-star's unforced charisma. Meanwhile, the resemblance between Sean Faris and Tom Cruise circa Risky Business is uncanny. The sad thing is that the twice Oscar-nominated Honsou is capable of much more and to see him reduced to playing this role is almost as painful as watching Cuba Gooding Jr. Honsou is fine as the mentor who influences by dispersing tough love and tougher advice. All that's missing from those training montages is 'Gonna Fly Now.'ĭoes Djimon Honsou channel the late Pat Morita? Not really, even though both actors play variations of the same character, separated by two decades.

NEVER BACK DOWN FULL MOVIE HOW TO

So what is there to hold the viewer's interest? A lackluster teen romance lifted directly out of The O.C.? Training sequences in which Jake gradually learns how to give up his anger and channel his energy in the right way? Never Back Down is paint-by-numbers filmmaking that doesn't deviate the slightest bit from the pattern. We know Jake is going to lose the first fight and win the last one. And, in evaluating the battles that bookend the main narrative, it's necessary to note that when events are pre-determined, it takes away a lot of the fun. It's hard to imagine die-hard mixed martial arts fans getting excited by what Never Back Down has to offer - it presents their sport as gladiatorial street fighting and the figures who engage in it as thugs and sadists. I guess one could argue that the fight scenes have some energy although, in comparison to the recent Step Up 2 the Streets, an equally formulaic dance movie, the action lacks flair. Miyagi named Jean Roqua (Djimon Honsou) takes Jake under his wing and prepares him for the inevitable re-match. The next day, accompanied by his new geeky friend Max (Evan Peters), Jake visits a gym for a little training. With cell phone cameras capturing every moment of the action, Jake gets the crap beaten out of him. Initially, Jake refuses to fight, but after Ryan speaks the magic words about Jake's father, the game is on. He accomplishes this by using his attractive girlfriend, Baja (Amber Heard), to lure Jake to a party where Ryan is waiting. The school hotshot/bully, Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet), wants to teach the newcomer a lesson by giving him a beating.

His reputation precedes him to his new high school in Orlando. Mention his father's death in a drunk driving accident and he'll go ballistic. Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) is a mild-mannered guy with a quick-trigger temper. Those with a craving for the story would be better off re-watching The Karate Kid than enduring this lackluster re-telling. There's no reason to see this film - everyone in the audience knows not only what the starting and finishing points are but the trajectory that will propel events from one to the other. When one considers where Million Dollar Baby took this concept, it becomes all the more depressing how little creativity exists in Never Back Down's DNA. Like a pop song suffering from overplay, Never Back Down hits all the expected notes but feels tired and stirs no emotion.

The premise is familiar: underdog achieves self respect through training with a master then puts it all together for the big fight. Strictly speaking, Never Back Down is not a remake, but it might as well be.

Never back down full movie