Never Back Down is a 2008 film starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard, Cam Gigandet, and Djimon Hounsou. It was theatrically released on March 14, 2008.
Plot
Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) helps his high-school football team win an important game. A frustrated player from the opposing team makes taunts about Jake's father, who was killed while driving drunk. Infamously-hot-tempered Jake starts a brawl with the opposing player. Spectators capture the brawl with mobile phones and video-cameras. Soon, the brawl is uploaded to YouTube.
Jake gets thrown off the team for brawling, but takes it in stride because he is leaving this school anyway. He and his younger brother Charlie (Wyatt Henry Smith) are moving with their widowed mom to Orlando, Florida where Charlie has received a tennis scholarship. The Tyler brothers are close despite Jake's penchant for fighting and getting into trouble, which greatly upsets their mom (Leslie Hope).
At his new school, Jake has a hard time fitting in. He catches the eye of Baja Miller (Amber Heard), a pretty classmate who flirts with him. Later, Jake notices fellow student Max Cooperman (Evan Peters) getting beaten up on campus. Jake rushes to Max's aid, only to discover that the "bullying" he disrupted was actually a street-kickboxing match. Everybody present, including Max, demands that the astonished Jake leave.
At school the next day, Max lets it be known that there are videos on the internet of Jake's football brawl, which has gained him a positive reputation on campus. Max invites Jake to come and learn mixed martial arts with his instructor, while Baja invites Jake to a party at her boyfriend Ryan McCarthy's mansion. Jake declines the former offer but accepts the latter. At McCarthy Manor that night, host Ryan (Cam Gigandet) - having seen the internet footage - challenges Jake to demonstrate his brawling prowess in a fight against...Ryan himself. When Jake refuses the challenge, letting Ryan know that Jake came to the party only because Baja invited him. Ryan kisses Baja in front of Jake to verify whose girlfriend she is. Jake realizes that he's being set up, and attempts to leave - until Ryan makes taunts about the disgraceful death of Jake's dad. An angry Jake accepts the challenge but is brutally defeated by Ryan. Baja appears disgusted with Ryan for continually beating on Jake, despite the fact that Jake was obviously down and out.
A day later, Max comes to Jake's house, and repeats the invitation to come and learn Mixed Martial Arts from Max's instructor, Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou). This time, Jake accepts. He meets Max at Roqua's gym and is introduced to Roqua himself. Roqua briefly interviews Jake...who, he senses, is there for the wrong reasons. Nonetheless, Roqua allows Jake to train with him - both in class, and personally before classes - on the condition that Jake does not fight anybody for any reason outside the gym. Jake notices that Roqua apparently lives in the gym.
Baja comes to Jake to appologize for setting him up with that fight against Ryan. Yet she also points out that Jake wanted the fight as well. Jake shrugs off her apology. Baja goes back and breaks up with Ryan, whom she claims is a sadist. Ryan grabs her in a rage (thereby proving her point). Jake rushes up and breaks Ryan's grip on Baja. To save face, Ryan repeats his insults against Jake's late father. Later, in Roqua's gym, it becomes apparent that Jake's anger and guilt (over letting his intoxicated father drive that night, against the boy's better judgment) has affected his training for the worse. Roqua sends Jake home to cool off. Max gives Jake a ride back. En route, Jake and Max are accosted by three gang members. A fight breaks out, which Jake wins easily, and which Max catches on video. As with the football video, this one bolsters Jake's reputation among his classmates; he is now second only to Ryan as the most popular guy in school. The jealous Ryan challenges Jake to The Beatdown, a local underground fight tournament.
Unfortunately for Jake, Roqua sees that Jake has wounds on his knuckles which could have only come from fighting against his rules and banishes Jake from the gym. When Roqua goes grocery shopping, Jake confronts him and admits that Roqua was right: he signed up to train for the wrong reasons. Jake also tells Roqua the late Mr. Tyler's story; evidently, Jake feels that his mother blames him for her husband's demise. Roqua then tells his story: he had an younger brother, who was an excellent mixed-martial artist. One day in a bar, a local bully mouthed off at young Joseph, who was about to fight the bully himself. His brother won the brawl, only to be shot and killed by the bully's friends. Jean's father blames him for permitting the situation to escalate into violence which could have been avoided. Jean left home over that; he has not seen his father, or even set foot in Brazil, for the past seven years.
Jake declines to enter The Beatdown. When Ryan discovers this turn of events he invites Max to McCarthy Manor on false pretenses. There Ryan engages Max in combat and beats him brutally. Fearing for his friends' safety, Jake reverses his decision and enters The Beatdown after all - only to face Ryan. Roqua hears of this as well, and confronts Jake with an ultimatum: Jake will never be allowed near the gym again if he even goes to The Beatdown, much less fights in it. Jake - realizing that Roqua is trying to prevent him from making the same mistake which Roqua himself made with his own father - answers that Roqua's only mistake was not doing what Jake himself is about to do. Said mistake wasn't brawling; it was evading the conflict at hand, rather than confronting and resolving it.
At The Beatdown, both Jake and Ryan reach the semi-finals. Then Ryan is disqualified for eye-gouging. In view of this, Jake taps out one second into his semi-final bout (because his purpose for entering The Beatdown to begin with is no longer present). Outside the club, Ryan attacks Jake and they have a spectacular brawl in the club parking lot. Ultimately Jake wins the fight. (In the 2 Disc and Blu Ray versions, there is a deleted scene where Ryan tries to challenge Jake to a rematch.) Jake replies to this by bringing to light the fact the fans are chanting for the rematch unsatified with the fight they just saw, and subsequently they want to watch just simply two guys "kill" each other and do not care about the sport itself. This would cause Ryan to realize he had basically been a puppet to gladitorial combat for the amusment of others and not the one on top and in control he thought he was. Angered and embarassed he yells at the crowd and runs off.
Jake has won the respect of all his fellow students, up to and including Ryan. For the first time in a long while, Roqua closes the gym and goes to visit his family in Brazil.
Cast
Production
The film was originally titled Get Some until December 2007. Filming took place entirely in downtown Orlando and Sanford, Florida. All school scenes were shot at Cypress Creek High School and the apartment complex in which Jake and his family lived in was actually Wellesley Apartments just behind Highway 408. The original title to the movie was "Get Some" but that title had sexual connotations that the producers didn't like so it was decided to change the movie title to "Never Back Down".
Critical reception
The film received generally negative reviews from critics. As of March 14, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 22% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 50 reviews.[1] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 40 out of 100, based on 18 reviews.[2] Richard Roeper, host of At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, gave the film a marginal "thumbs up" saying "I laughed so much at the litany of clichés that I finally had to admit I was entertained from start to finish by this cheesy knock-off." Michael Philips, guest critic for that week gave the film thumbs down and felt the film was "not worth recommending for any reason".[3]
The film won the MTV Movie Award for Best Fight with Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet.
Box office
Never Back Down debuted in 2,729 theaters with $8,603,195 at the Box-Office. After 2 weeks in cinemas, it garnered $18,890,093; and after one month the movie earned $37,676,991 worldwide.[4]
Filming
Filming began on 16 July 2007[5]. Parts of the movie were filmed at Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida. Other parts were filmed at and around Sycamore High School in Pleasant View, Tennessee.
DVD release
Never Back Down was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on July 29, 2008 [6]. The DVD is available in one-disc and two-disc editions. The Blu-ray Disc and two-disc DVD edition includes both the theatrical PG-13 version, plus an unrated "Extended Beat Down" version, as well as additional bonus features not included in the one-disc DVD.
Soundtrack
The trance track played, when Ryan and his dad argue, is called Estuera - Tales From The South (Jonas Steur's Flow Revision), it did not feature on the soundtrack though.
References
- Never Back Down at Box Office Mojo
- Modern Day Karate Kid Packs A Punch- NYU News (Feb. 22, 2008)
- Never Back Down Review- The Duke Chronicle Review (Mar. 6, 2008)
- Whats Your Fight? Hollyscoop (March 7, 2008)
- Never Back Down Gets Its Kicks Variety (March 5, 2008)
- Never Back Down Taking A BLog Beating UFC Daily (March 8, 2008)
- Never Back Down Writer Chris Hauty Cinema Blend (March 4, 2008)
- 'Never Back Down' Struggles Cincinnati- The Enquirer (March 15, 2008)
- Fight Club: Oscar-nominee Djimon Hounsou Kicks Things Up with Martial Arts Flick CTV.ca (March 14, 2008)
- 'Never Back Down': Realism Takes A Sucker Punch The Star (March 14, 2008)
- Actors Elevate Fight Film Plot You Know Las Vegas Sun (March 14, 2008)
- Never Back Down Review Variety.com (March 13, 2008)
- Never Back Down Newsday (March 14, 2008)
- 'Never Back Down' Mixes It Up With Mixed Results North County Times (March 13, 2008)
- MOVIE REVIEW- Fight Feature: Wadlow's Second Film A Manly Movie The Hook (March 13, 2008)
External links
|
