 |
|
|
|
| | | |
| MatchFlick Member Reviews |
view all movie information
Directed By
Jeff Wadlow
Written By:
Chris Hauty, Robert Munic
Cast:
Djimon Hounsou, Amber Heard, Leslie Hope, Evan Peters, Affion Crockett, Lauren Leech, Ryan Watson, Jim R. Coleman, Jeremy Palko, Whitney Costner, Artie Ahr, Jamie Hartley, Omar Elkalyoubie, Bjorn Jiskoot Jr., Nathena Lewis, Melody Mccraney, Tom Myers, Danny Rawley, David W. Scott, Adonis Stevens, Marnie Van der Burgt, Sean Faris, Kristin Mellian, Colin Bowman, Wael Georgey, Wolfgang J. Weber, Tiffany Marshall, Robie Alan, Ricky Dunlop, Ron Lewis Jr., AJ Semiday, Cam Gigandet, Laura Ramos, Neil Brown Jr., Justin Brown, Jessica Badeaux, Andy Ussach, Alexandria Iona, James Edward Coleman II, Alexandria Iona, Rich Freeman, Wyatt Smith, Chris Adler, Tilky Jones, David How, Steven Crowley, Rachael Thompson, Jason Nathaniel Powers, Tony Morales, Chris Lindsay, Michael Rummel, Joseph Cortez, Igor Smorshok, Lizbeth Smith-Cuellar, Devin Higgins, Lauren Pylant, Byron Peck, Tommy Connelly, Aaron Pushkar, Alain Mena, Cameron Francis, Nadine Avola, Shawn Banks, David Bermejo, Lauren Brown, Marc Carasello, Darwin 'Mightymouse' Francis, Desiree R. Goguen, Rod Grant, Ramon Hernandez, Romi King, Jesse Kozel, Nando Lavao, Alyssa Maio, Brenna Maio, Johnny Maio, Erin O'Halloran, Joseph Primiani, Regina Ramirez, Lydia Sebastian, Shana Snodgrass, Joanne Spracklen, Dana Thurmond, Wesley Tsukazan, Aries Marvin Uzzle, Amazona, Anesti Vogia, Johnathan Sessoms, Christin Pylant, Kema Nikia
|
|
|
| |
Never Back Down (2008)
 email this review to a friend
Movie Review by Chris
August 31st, 2008
|  |
At his new high school, a rebellious teen Jake Tyler is lured into an ultimate underground fighting club in a Backyard Fight, where he finds a mentor in a mixed martial arts veteran. After receiving threats to the safety of his friends and family, Jake seeks the mentoring of a veteran fighter, to train his mind and body for one final no-holds-barred elimination fight with his unrelenting personal nemesis and local martial arts champion Ryan McCarthy.
There is not doubt in my mind that when we compare another film to Never Back Down, Fight Club is the better movie. There is nothing which would change that between these two movies, but Never Back Down is certainly a favorite of mine. I'm not saying that this is the greatest movie ever made because nothing will ever make me say that. Since I am a guy and loves fight films like this, Never Back Down is now a new favorite of mine, because though it does have a OC type plot, the soundtrack and fight scenes I deeply enjoyed and had a great time overall through the entire thing. So the acting isnt amazing and it does feature some mild action film cliches, I couldnt help but just be addicted to this movie from the start.
Sean Faris plays our lead character of Jake Tyler, a boy who is basically scarred by the death of his father which he blames on himself. As the film unfolds his story, we see that his father was killed in a DUI accident. Unfortunately Jake couldve drove his drunk dad home and got him home safely, but he let his dad drive and was the only one which walked out of the accident. Honestly, Sean isnt the greatest actor in the world and this is the first time I saw him in a major motion picture film, but he did star in Twisted and a small role in Pearl Harbor. As he falls in love with Baja, played by Amber Heard, he constantly learns the way of fighting. The movies subjust does sorround fighting and all, but he actually is against it all towards the beginning of the movie. The only thing which made him fight during the football game which opens the movie was the fact that the guy talked about his father.
His main competition and rich a**hole Ryan, played by Cam Gigandet, is an average opponent which we usually see in films like this. He was obviously hired for the role because of his talent in fighting, but besides that his goofy looking face and smile is certainly better then his acting, which isnt all that great. He always has that goofy face on and never really shows any great expression of any kind. As Ryan constantly battles personally with his anger towards Jake, Jake trains with Jean Roqua, played by Djimon Hounsou. He is the mentor of the movie and his performance exceeds, just like how he did in Blood Diamond. Just like Jake, he has a past which I dont want to ruin for you but its certainly a complicated one.
Its not to new, but Jeff Wadlow's direction is certainly well. He does use the average hand held cam and the usual zoom in-out scenarios, but the way he runs the camera during the fights and so is interesting. One thing I noticed during the football fight is that as Jake got angrier, the screen pumped as if a hearbeat was racing, and it looked really cool. The film takes more of a street fight approach then a boxing film look, but the mix in martial arts and street fighting is really great. Besides the fight scenes, the rest of the story unfolds pretty well and all of Jakes friendships are funny and such to watch. Sometimes the drama gets to mixed up and I felt like the film was making a drastic turn but I enjoyed it with all its pleasure.
Never Back Down is certainly a crazy and fun film to watch, though the critics disagree, my opinion is that you see this movie and enjoy it.
email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to reviews.
Join or Login. |
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS
|
