Never Back Down

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Jacob B Yes, Never Back Down is exactly what people describe it as: The Karate Kid with MMA and fanservice. I actually found it hilarious that when Sony made their own "Karate Kid with a different fighting style" movie two years later, the producer had them cut out the middleman and just have it be a straight-up remake. My point being that the 2010 film did it better than Never Back Down, which is not meant to represent me being biased towards original films. That being said, Never Back Down isn't really that bad. It has its issues (an aggressively 2000's soundtrack, odd editing choices, the explanation for why our antagonist is the way he is coming off more as karma rather than the "no bad students, only bad teacher" scene it's intended to be and "control the outcome" has more of a "I'm 14 and this is deep" vibe) but Djimon Hounsou delivers a strong performance as the Mr. Miyagi stand-in, Cam Gigandet's smug asshole demeanour makes his character fun to watch, I liked seeing Evan Peters in a pre-fame role (at least he remains our hero's wingman unlike how the guy from The Karate Kid just ditched LaRusso after that bit at the beach) and the MMA tournament in the climax is enjoyable. Shame the protagonist came off to me as irritating. Yes, he's meant to be seen as an aggressive jerk in the beginning with a Freudian Excuse and, to his credit, he does go through enough development that the third act can best be described as "Karate Kid III but it's actually, comparatively good" but there's only so many times I could see him getting into trouble before it got stale. It's hard for me to buy him having chemistry with Amber Heard when half their scenes after the party amounted to them being pissed off with each other. But hey, at least the crowd who struggles with separating art from the artist will at least get catharsis from somebody being upset with Amber Heard. Though in that one scene where FauxRusso beats up some guys, don't think I'm not onto you too, Quicksilver! Rather than defusing the tension, you filmed the video and uploaded it online. Sure, it might've made this school that's unhealthily obsessed with MMA stop talking smack about him but your bystander syndrome ended up biting our hero in the ass. The real kicker however, is that it's implied Hounsou didn't even know about the video when he kicks him out of the gym, only learning about the broken rule when he sees the bruised fists. And nobody calls Evan Peters out on his inaction. Though I guess him being lured into an obvious trap by the antagonist can be seen as karmic, albeit overkill. Huh, guess I had more to say than I expected about The MMA Kid. TL;DR Never Back Down is a decent sports drama whose Karate Kid influences fortunately lean more towards imitation being the sincerest form of flattery rather than plagiarism. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/25/25 Full Review Trey G One of my favorites great movie with great messages Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/19/25 Full Review Elaina R Very good movie I would recommend watching this I will never understand the bad reviews Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/14/25 Full Review thiago s Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/11/25 Full Review Idodeclareindeed B If you properly set your expectations, this is actually a fun, exciting fighting movie with a very strong performance from Sean Faris, it's a shame I haven't seen him in more movies. He really puts everything into it and it shows, despite the dialogue which is often awkward. A high school football player says to another - "The sauce? That s***'ll kill ya" oookay. Amber Heard is in it, bless her heart. Djimon Honsou is great in it as a coach and you really feel the relationship between he and Sean. Great cinematography and soundtrack as well. It's really one of my favorite movies despite being silly or extra hollywood in parts. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/27/25 Full Review Ed R One of the best and most impactful MMA movies of our generation! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/23/25 Full Review Read all reviews

Never Back Down

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