Never Back Down
Never Back Down | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jeff Wadlow |
Written by | Chris Hauty |
Produced by | Craig Baumgarten David Zelon |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Lukas Ettlin |
Edited by | Victor Du Bois Debra Weinfeld |
Music by | Michael Wandmacher |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Summit Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 115 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $20 million[1] |
Box office | $41.6 million[1] |
Never Back Down is a 2008 American martial arts film directed by Jeff Wadlow and starring Sean Faris, Cam Gigandet, Amber Heard, and Djimon Hounsou. It tells the story of a frustrated and conflicted teenager who arrives at a new high school and discovers an underground fight club there.
The film was theatrically released on March 14, 2008. It received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed $41.6 million worldwide against a budget of $20 million.
Plot
Jake Tyler has recently moved from
Max Cooperman, after befriending Jake, introduces him to MMA and gets him connected with an instructor named Jean Roqua. Jake manages to pass a few of Roqua's physical tests and impresses him with his willpower and is accepted as his student. Roqua warns Jake that while he is under his instructorship, Jake cannot fight outside the gym no matter the reason and if he breaks the rule he will be thrown out of his gym. While Jake trains under Roqua, he initially has difficulty doing so due to his anger towards his incident with Ryan. Baja tries to make amends with Jake by apologizing for her role in the fight between him and Ryan but Jake refuses to forgive her. When Ryan shows no remorse for his fight with Jake or his sadistic tendencies, Baja breaks up with him, to which Ryan responds by aggressively grabbing her. When Jake tries to intervene to protect Baja, Ryan insults him about his father again and leaves. At practice, with Jake still furious over what happened, is told by Roqua to leave the gym until he cools off. Riding back from the gym with Max, Jake gets into a road rage brawl with a group of men whom he easily dispose of. Max films the video, which circulates around the school and raises Jake's social status which ends up agitating Ryan enough to confront Jake. After cornering Jake in the bathroom and roughing him up, he challenges Jake to compete in the Beatdown, an underground fighting tournament of which Ryan is the reigning champion. When Roqua discovers that Jake has fought outside the gym, he kicks him out and tells him he is not welcome back. A little while later, after Jake pleads with him, Roqua obliges and welcomes Jake back to the gym. Roqua puts Jake through more rigorous training which Jake uses in preparation for the Beatdown. After a workout, Roqua confides in Jake that he came from Brazil and is in self imposed exile. He tells Jake that his brother was a skilled MMA fighter and had handily beaten a local troublemaker who had challenged him. The man later returned with a gun and murdered his brother. Jean's father blames him for the death, saying he should have been watching out for him. Jake later on meets with Baja and apologizes for not forgiving her and they start a relationship. Jake eventually becomes reluctant to compete at the Beatdown seeing it as something Ryan wants, but his mind is changed after Ryan invites Max to his house and assaults him, leaving him on Jake's doorstep to be found. After leaving Max at the hospital, Jake goes to see Roqua and initially arguing over Jake's decision to participate in the Beatdown eventually relents and reminds Jake to "control the outcome".
Jake arrives at the tournament and both he and Ryan make their way through each round, each emerging victorious. Jake makes it to the semifinals in spite of an injury he received in the previous match. Baja arrives to not only support him, but to tell him that she understands why he insists on fighting: so that he would never have to fight again. After learning that Ryan was disqualified in his semifinal match due to an illegal eye gouge, Jake forfeits, seeing no reason to continue. While he and Baja attempt to leave, Ryan confronts him and the two finally fight outside in the parking lot. Jake is still limited by his injury, and Ryan at first gains the upper hand, applying a choke on Jake. However Jake escapes and knocks out Ryan using one of the first combinations Roqua taught him. Eventually, Jake wins the respect of his fellow students, including Ryan; and Roqua decides to go back to Brazil to reconcile with his father.
Cast
- Sean Faris as Jake "The Gridiron" Tyler, a trouble-prone teenager and the main protagonist.
- Amber Heard as Baja Miller, Jake's love interest.
- Cam Gigandet as Ryan "The Terror" McCarthy, Jake's rival, bully and the main antagonist.
- Djimon Hounsou as Jean Roqua, Max's mentor who agrees to train Jake.
- Evan Peters as Max Cooperman, a classmate who introduces Jake to MMA and befriends him.
- Wyatt Smith as Charlie Tyler, Jake's younger brother
- Leslie Hope as Margot Tyler, Jake's mother
- Chele Andre as Tiffany West, Baja's friend who likes Max.
- Tilky Jones as Eric
- Neil Brown Jr. as Aaron, Ryan's best friend.
- Lauren Leech as Jenny, Baja's friend who becomes Ryan's new girlfriend.
- Anthony Matos as Yellow Hummer Crew #1
- Daniel Hernandez as Yellow Hummer Crew #2
- Justin A. Williams as Yellow Hummer Crew #3
Production
The fighter actors went through three months of MMA training before filming began in Orlando, Florida.[2]: 0:39–1:03
One local high school was used when filming, that being Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Fl.
Reception
Box office
Never Back Down debuted in 2,729 theaters at #3 with $8,603,195 in the opening weekend. After 2 weeks in cinemas, it garnered $18,890,093; and after one month the film earned $37,676,991 worldwide.[1]
The film closed on June 5, 2008, after 84 days at the North American box office with $41,627,431 worldwide against a budget of $20 million.
Critical response
On
Gregory Kirschling of
Richard Roeper gave the film a positive review: "I laughed so much at the litany of clichés that I finally had to admit I was entertained from start to finish by this cheesy knock-off".[7]
Movie historian
Accolades
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | MTV Movie Award | Best Fight | Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet | Won |
Home media
The DVD was released on July 29, 2008, and has so far sold 990,405 units, bringing in $18,495,324 in revenue. This does not include Blu-ray sales.[9]
An
Soundtrack
- "Above and Below" – The Bravery
- "Anthem for the Underdog" – 12 Stones
- "Teenagers" – My Chemical Romance
- "Someday" – Flipsyde
- "Wolf Like Me" – TV on the Radio
- "Under the Knife" – Rise Against
- "Time Won't Let Me Go" – The Bravery
- "Rock Star" – Chamillionaire & Lil Wayne
- "Be Safe" – The Cribs
- "Headstrong" – Trapt
- "False Pretense" – The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
- "Orange Marmalade" – Mellowdrone
- "You Are Mine" – Mutemath
- "Stronger" – Kanye West feat Daft Punk
- "Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Travis Barker
- "The Slam" – TobyMac
- "Lights Out" - Breaking Benjamin
- "Face the pain" - Stemm
- "...To Be Loved" – Papa Roach (featured during theatrical trailer)
The trance track played, when Ryan and his dad argue, is called "Estuera – Tales From The South (Jonas Steur's Flow Revision)", it did not feature on the soundtrack. It's from the album
Sequels
A 2011
A second sequel, released in 2016, titled Never Back Down: No Surrender was again directed by White, who also reprises his role as Case Walker. The film also stars Josh Barnett, Gillian Waters, Steven Quardos, Nathan Jones and Esai Morales.
A third sequel, titled Never Back Down: Revolt, which is directed by
References
- ^ a b c "Never Back Down (2008)".
- ^ "Never Back Down: Cam Gigandet Interview". ScreenSlam. March 13, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2021.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ Never Back Down at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ "Never Back Down". Metacritic. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
- ^ Kirschling, Gregory (2008-03-19). "Never Back Down Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
- ^ Phillips, Michael (2008-03-12). "Movie Review: Never Back Down". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
- ^ Richard Roeper (12 February 2021). "Never Back Down". RichardRoeper.com.
- ^ Maltin's TV, Movie, & Video Guide
- ^ "The Numbers.com – "Never Back Down"". The-numbers.com. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
- ^ "Never Back Down (Extended Beat Down Edition) DVD Review". IGN. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
- ^ "Never Back Down franchise just got Geyer". September 1, 2010.
Bibliography
- Modern Day Karate Kid packs a punch - Washington Square News (Feb. 22, 2008)
- never back down - The Duke Chronicle (March 5, 2008)
- What's Your Fight? Hollyscoop (March 7, 2008)
- Bill Higgins (March 5, 2008). "Never Back Down Gets Its Kicks". Variety. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011.
- Never Back Down Taking A Blog Beating UFC Daily (March 8, 2008)
- Mariana McConnell (2008-03-04). "Never Back Down Writer Chris Hauty". CinemaBlend.
- Constance Droganes (March 14, 2008). "Fight Club: Oscar-nominee Djimon Hounsou kicks things up with martial arts flick". CTV News.
- Philip Marchand (March 14, 2008). "'Never Back Down': Realism takes a sucker punch". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 30, 2021. 2 out of 4 stars.
- Actors elevate fight film plot you know Las Vegas Sun (March 14, 2008)
- John Anderson (March 13, 2008). "SxSW Reviews: Never Back Down". Variety.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008.
- Never Back Down Newsday (March 14, 2008)
- Dan Bennett (March 13, 2008). "Never Back Down' mixes it up with mixed results". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
- Fight feature: Wadlow's second film a manly movie The Hook 23 (March 13, 2008)
External links
- Never Back Down at IMDb
- Never Back Down at AllMovie