NEVER BACK DOWN

Director: Jeff Wadlow

Stars: Sean Faris, Amber Heard, Cam Gigandet, Evan Peters, Djimon Hounsou, Wyatt Henry Smith, Leslie Hope

Year: 2008

Rating: PG-13

(NOTE: The theatrical release of the film bears the PG-13 rating; what I saw was the extended "Beat Down" edition of the film on DVD, which includes more bone-crunching fight time - so is somewhat more violent in content.)

Take the hit cult film Fight Club, drop it into a high school setting, and you seemingly have Never Back Down. Seemingly. But thanks to the film's very likable, personable lead actor (Sean Faris) - along with some beautifully shot and choreographed mixed martial arts fight sequences, the film as a whole, thankfully, becomes more than the sum of its sometimes-cliched parts.

Faris stars as Jake Tyler, a high school kid in Iowa consumed with both anger and guilt over the death of his father. Constantly getting in fights and in trouble, Jake's mom (Leslie Hope) is hoping things will get better after relocating the family to Orlando, Florida when Jake's younger brother Charlie (Wyatt Henry Smith) - a young tennis prodigy - gets into an exclusive training school for the sport.

And at first things aren't bad; slowly Jake is accepted at school, and he even meets a hot blonde named Baja (Amber Heard) who seems as interested in him as he is her. When Baja invites Jake to a party at an exclusive mansion, however, Jake learns he's been set up by Baja and her boyfriend Ryan (Cam Gigandet, in full S.O.B. mode) for a fight. It seems that most of the school has seen video footage online, via YouTube and similar sites, of a free-for-all brawl that Jake started on the football field of his old school in Iowa, during a game and soon before moving, where he knocked out his biggest rival from the other team with one punch to the head ... and now Ryan, the local champion in an underground mixed martial arts fights competition, is determined (in full-on bully style) to show Jake early on that he's #1 in town.

When goaded until his rage forces him to fight Ryan, Jake gets the living snot kicked out of him at the party - in front of pretty much the entire school - and is helped home by his new best buddy Max (Evan Peters, in one of the best performances of the film). Though Jake wants none of it - and nothing to do with fighting - Max talks Jake into going to see the master trainer of mixed martial arts in Orlando, Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) ... and while observing the moves and techniques there, Jake decides it's exactly what he does need (mainly to get revenge on Ryan), and talks himself into the advanced class. Roqua - a quiet, very moral man with his own secret past that haunts him - asks only one thing of Jake: so long as he trains in his gym, he cannot fight outside the gym. Jake agrees, knowing he has no intention of keeping that promise as soon as he's ready to take Ryan on again ... which he has his chance to do at the "Beat Down" championship match the next month. According to Max, details of the match are only sent to potential fighters at the last minute, via text message - and while Jake's not sure he wants such a public forum in which to take Ryan on again, he is sure he wants his revenge.

The movie, in its way, is full of the typical high school cliches that make it short on plot script, and (to a degree) even performances. What's surprising - and what elevates the film above what it would have been otherwise - are the fight sequences, which even the most non-fan of fight movies (aka, ME) will still get caught up in. Amber Heard is okay as the popular girl who learns the error of her ways and becomes a good girl instead, and Cam Gigandet does a great job playing a villain that, thanks to the script, is without so much as one redeeming quality to make him even remotely likable. Leslie Hope is also good as the mom who can't get a grip on who her son is anymore, even as she also may - deep down - hold him responsible for his father's death, as well. Djimon Hounsou and Wyatt Henry Smith - along with Faris - bring the best work to the film, in very real performances that make their scenes work.

But ultimately, it's the two "F's" - Faris and fighting - that make this film both entertaining and watchable (Faris really infuses Jake with a sense of vulnerability and passion; he's a guy trying to heal himself, and it's a long haul). Oh yeah, along with the smokin'-hot babes in bikinis and shirtless (and sweaty), well-built young guys; after all, you can't forget this is Florida. I saw this film as a recommendation from a very good friend - and if I, as a non-fan of fight films, can enjoy and get caught up in it ... that alone makes it worth watching for nearly anyone. *** - Reel Cool