by Thomas Ferguson

Fighting is never the answer. A little bit of wisdom that was instilled into our brains by our parents.  Well, most parents. I know some ghetto parents who actually teach their kids how to fight, but that’s another subject. In the new motion picture Never Back Down, this ideology is put to the test.

Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) is a troubled young man with an anger management problem.  He fights his way out of his troubles.  His younger brother wins a scholarship to play tennis in Orlando, Florida and Jake’s frustrated mother moves herself and her two sons from Iowa, hoping the change of scenery will change Jake’s attitude.

Unfortunately, Jake’s reputation precedes him due to a YouTube video showing him beating up a rival on the football field.  Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gidgandet) is the local bully. He’s the rich kid who has it all, but the one thing he wants is the satisfaction of beating the new bad ass in town.

Some students like hanging out with friends at the mall, the students in this city love to fight. They organize fights to find out who is the strongest. The boys fight. Even the girls fight. It all culminates with a knockdown, drag out brawl which is like the Superbowl of the local fight scene.

Ryan is desperate to get the apprehensive Jake to take part.  He uses his girlfriend Baja (Amber Heard) to lure Jake in, but unbeknownst to Ryan, Jake and Baja fall for one another. This love connection ups the ante for all involved and adds pressure on Jake to fight for the girl he loves and his for self respect.

Unable to defeat Ryan, Jake enrolls in a class of mixed martial arts. Headed by the noble Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou), Jake learns the skill, the control, and the consequences of fighting.

I’m a huge fan of underdog stories. One of my favorite all time movies is The Karate Kid. This movie is very reminiscent of that classic, but unfortunately, it lacks the heart. Never Back Down, has some good moments, especially the climatic fight in a parking lot, but that has been done numerous times before. Very recently for that matter, remember Step Up 2: The Streets?  This time around, there are no head spins or pop- locking just punches and body slams.

I can see how people may like this movie. It’s full of beautiful people doing some awesome fight choreography, but for me, it’s been done many times before. The plot is a bit too predictable for my taste. If I were a thirteen year old boy, I’d probably love this movie. It’s Fight Club for teeny boppers.