Never Back Down

STARRING: Djimon Hounsou, Sean Faris View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 03/14/2008 DATE SCREENED: 02/21/2008 The Verdict OK - Wait for the DVD

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) began to emerge in 1993 with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which was based on the concept of putting different styles of fighters inside a cage, with minimal rules, and then seeing who exits the cage victorious. Since those humble beginnings, MMA has grown into a huge international sport seen on cable TV and pay-per-view, with millionaire athletes who also make appearances in TV shows and movies. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood started churning out MMA films, with Never Back Down being the first that I’ve seen.

Never Back Down is not exactly an original story. Jake Tyler is a high school football star with a violent streak and an attitude, due to the death of his father. When mom moves the family to a new neighborhood, Jake becomes the “fish-out-of-water” at a new high school full of rich kids. When a YouTube video begins circulating of one of Jake’s brawls on the football field, he is lured to a party in which the main attraction is the students staging their own MMA fights. It seems that in this high school, it’s not the captain of the football or basketball team that is the most popular. It’s the best fighter, who in this case is a kid named Ryan. Ryan ends up kicking Jake’s butt at the party, and Jake is soon at a MMA training school run by Jean Roqua, played by Djimon Hounsou. Of course, Roqua teaches his students not to fight outside of the gym, but Jake has a started dating Ryan’s girlfriend and just can’t let his defeat go. As expected, the film culminates in a final MMA showdown between Jake and Ryan.

The only thing original about this film is the Mixed Martial Arts. I’m a big fan of MMA, and boxing is a dying sport in my mind. It was good to see MMA on the big screen, but the problem is that the MMA isn’t that good. This movie is basically a simple American kung fu movie, with MMA in place of the kung fu. Like almost all American kung fu movies, Never Back Down’s fight scenes are poorly edited in order to make up for the fact that the actors aren’t great fighters. Djimon tries his best to add some credibility to the film, with a good performance as Roqua, but it’s not enough to make up for the other mediocre actors. I never grew to care about any characters other than Roqua, so I didn’t really care about the final fight. There are a lot of fights in the movie, which is good, and you do get to see small snippets of exciting MMA action. I applaud the effort to make a MMA film, but the execution needs work. Hopefully, the next movie about MMA will aspire to be better. Wait for the DVD.