Movie Review - 'Never Back Down'

Never Back Down

Starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard and Djimon Hounsou
Directed by Jeff Wadlow
Rated PG-13

Truth be told, I thought about directly lifting my review from Step Up 2 the Streets or Stomp the Yard and adjusting a few details a la Mad Libs to craft an analysis of Never Back Down. After all, that's apparently what the screenwriters for this movie did.

A childish Fight Club-meets-gritty-step-dancing-movie blend, Never Back Down either introduces you to the world of mixed martial arts fighting or confirms your belief that MMA is awesome. That's all that's on its mind.

And maybe there are high schools where the social hierarchy is determined by your prowess inside a makeshift octagon or whatever, but that's a really flimsy setup for a movie. And when the movie is mostly flimsy beyond the setup, well, that's just a recipe for disaster.

Everything else, you kind of know: Troubled kid straightens his life out through (insert activity), and he makes an unlikely friend and grabs the attention of (girl or guy) who just so happens to be involved with his main rival. If you've seen one of these movies, you've at least seen part of them all.

There are some good things going on here, though. I liked the heart-on-his-sleeve performance by Sean Faris and though I hate to see him reduced to "the mentor," Djimon Hounsou delivered a thankless role with terrific energy.

But on the whole, it's tough to really get excited about Never Back Down in part because it never stands up. It's so formulaic that it becomes boring, and that's with a substantial amount of punches being thrown.