What Do The Critics Say?

"Maybe it’s just a genre picture, but scene after scene in "Never Back Down" displays vitality and wit. This is the year’s first good-looking and fully enjoyable American movie. The beauty of healthy physical release is the incorruptible point of Djimon Hounsou’s performance. With his dark skin, white goatee and precise expressions, Hounsou remains Hollywood’s finest camera subject. It may be formula, but Jeff Wadlow’s actioner looks good and goes down easy." Armond White NEW YORK PRESS "proves to be a bit of a guilty pleasure." Sean McBride SEAN THE MOVIE GUY "Compulsively watchable...there's always something viscerally exciting about watching kung fu fighters whaling on each other." Ethan Alter FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL "Violence aside, the film actually does contain some promising actors. Gigandet (TV's "Jack & Bobby," "The O.C.") particularly looks like a talent to watch. Faris (TV's "Reunion") has some big-screen potential, too, as does Amber Heard as the girlfriend who jumps from Ryan to Jake. Towering above all is Hounsou, whose performance grants Never Back Down a measure of dignity." Tom Keogh THE SEATTLE TIMES "Never Back Down" is cliche, acts like high-school kids rule the world and sometimes looks like a Three Doors Down video. But there's value in learning what you need to do and when you need to do it: a lesson seen through the camera phones, video cameras and YouTube pages that now pass for transmission of info among teenagers." Matt Pais METROMIX "Its gritty and not your teen dance-off. In fact, it is quite bloody and vicious. What elevates this from the genre is the gritty photography and the charisma of Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet. While it's not "Top Gun" homoerotic, it's damn close." Victoria Alexander FILMSINREVIEW "Director Jeff Wadlow finds a sort of nobility in the subject matter than you might not expect for a film that consists in large part of bloodthirsty mobs clamoring for violence. Rather than impose a simple-minded moralistic message, Wadlow manages to revel in the martial-arts action while exploring society's conflicted messages about honor, pacifism and glorifying violence." Donald Munro MIAMI HERALD

"The fight sequences are athletic and robust, but the relationships are also well written and directed, so that the story has some depth and impact. Although predictable in its trajectory, the plot is well devised and the movie looks terrific. Credit to director Jeff Wadlow for making a superior movie that transcends its target market. The result is an entertaining roller coaster of emotions and actions." Andrew L Urban URBANCINEFILE "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." Richard Roeper EBERT & ROEPER "Remember in the '80s when they used to make all those stupid fight movies? Never Back Down is just like that. I was in the mood for a stupid '80s fight movie where fights happen just because we want to see fights. The fights start out kind of looking like bitch fights but you quickly see there's a narrative point to each one. The first teaser is an initiation. It's got a good message though. It's about turning any situation around to your advantage, and that maybe you don't know everything." Fred Topel CAN MAGAZINE "Here's what I hoped for: someone to root for, someone to root against, an inspiring coach, some eye candy and, of course, training montages. I got what I wanted. I assumed Djimon Hounsou ("In America," "Blood Diamond") lost a bet and was forced into this role, but he gave the film all the credibility it needed. His "less is more" approach means never giving a long speech, but his imposing size is perfectly offset by his calm, Zen-like demeanor. "Never Back Down" shows a boy trying to become a man with the theme that you can't escape your past. It gives the audience exactly what it wants: a bloody good time and a hint of life lessons." Jeff Bayer DAILY HERALD "The film is grounded by another powerful performance by two-time Oscar-nominee Djimon Hounsou ("In America" and "Blood Diamond") who again manages to elevate what might have otherwise merely been a mediocre movie by imbuing his every scene with that trademark gravitas. And the rest of the cast members are talented, too, though they tend to be at their best during the highly-stylized, state-of-the-art fight sequences. "The Karate Kid" joins the "Fight Club" and kicks butt!" Kam Williams NEWSBLAZE

The Inside Story Producer Craig Baumgarten knew immediately after reading the script that "it was a great idea for a movie. I met with screenwriter Chris Hauty and we hit it off. I then asked producer David Zelon to get involved as he had a lot of knowledge and experience in the MMA world." "Never Back Down" was an ambitious undertaking for young director Jeff Wadlow. The film featured huge fight scenes populated by hundreds of extras, and it was punctuated by the intimate dynamics of a family in crisis and a young man’s struggle to make peace with his past. There were intricate, fast-paced MMA sequences coupled with the character-driven relationship between the master fighter and mentor Jean Roqua and his truculent student Jake. And the shooting schedule included both long days and nights, filmed in Florida’s grueling summer humidity. In fact, the emotional and physical facets of the film drew Wadlow to the project and made all the other challenges worthwhile. Wadlow recalls there were two reasons he was attracted to the project "I immediately connected to the emotional story of Jake Tyler. Here’s a guy who lost his dad and deals with that trauma by lashing out at the world. Of course, the tragic irony is that more than ever he needs a strong paternal figure to teach him an important lesson: It’s not just him; everyone struggles in life, and it's our responsibility to make the best of every situation. He learns this lesson from the mixed martial arts instructor Jean Roqua, and I had this feeling that seeing Jake grow emotionally, as he improves physically, could be really compelling." And the second? "The second reason I was attracted to the project was the opportunity to shoot fight scenes in a way that's never been done before. The fighting style used in the film is MMA, which is a combination of many different techniques. MMA is the fastest growing sport in the country right now and is quickly eclipsing boxing in popularity." Casting the male leads initially posed what Wadlow called "a major dilemma. Were we going to cast guys who could fight or guys who could act? Ultimately we decided to go for both, and we could not have been luckier. Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet each walked into the room and won the parts on their acting chops alone. But to be safe we took them into the gym, to see what they could do. We were blown away. Not only were they incredible actors, but they also had the physical ability to fight and learn quickly. This was very important, because they had to immediately go to work full time. From weight training, to fight choreography, to stretching and nutrition, we worked those guys so hard in prep they were counting the days till production began so they could get a break!" "I loved the script and I loved the idea of training in MMA," Faris said. "When you first meet Jake, he’s angry at the world and blames himself for everything. We all have those emotions on any given day, but he couldn’t let them go. To play that, sometimes I took it home with me and would be in a bad mood, but really, it’s all about pushing through it and seeing the good in life, because we don’t have control over everything that happens. I had to realize that I had control over my mood. I had to make a choice to have a good day when I left work." Amonst the cast of young actors is Amber Heard whos play Baja. As it turns out, Heard’s initial reading convinced Wadlow not only to cast her but to take the character in a slightly different direction. "With Baja, I wanted to find someone who you would believe made the mistake of going with the flow, someone who wasn't true to herself and as a result, ended up with the wrong guy (Ryan)," Wadlow said. "I had always assumed that Baja didn't really know that Ryan was such a bad guy until she saw him brutalize Jake. But when Amber read for the role, even though she looked stunning, I could see this sadness in her eyes and it suddenly dawned on me that it would be a much more interesting choice if Baja already knew Ryan was a bad guy and it wasn't until she met Jake that she had the courage to end the relationship. I'm sure even our very talented writer, Chris Hauty, would agree that the character of Baja was not fully realized until we cast Amber." Evan Peters was cast as Max, a wannabe fighter who introduces Ryan to MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). Wadlow says, Peters "managed to bring both humor and pathos to his part, something that made Max more than the one-dimensional comical sidekick. With Max, I knew we needed someone funny, but I was petrified we would just end up with a clown. The kind of guy you would laugh at, but never really care about. Even though Evan was hilarious (I would watch his audition online whenever I needed a laugh), it was his sincerity that got him the part. You just got the impression that he really cared about MMA and his buddy Jake." When it came to the role of the master fighter, Jean Roqua, Wadlow says, "there was only one actor we ever considered seriously: Djimon Hounsou." After seeing him on the big screen, cinemagoers will agree it was the right decision. "It was of the utmost importance to me that there was nothing mystical about Roqua. There are no hokey ancient karate lessons to be learned in this story, it's about the physical world and how to exist in it." Two-time Academy Award ® nominee Hounsou (" In America" & "Blood Diamond"), at first cast a wary eye on Wadlow. Having worked with such great directors as Steven Spielberg, Edward Zwick, Jim Sheridan and Sir Ridley Scott, he had nothing but praise for the young director. "I've had the luxury of working with great directors on all sorts of films," Hounsou says. "I'm always skeptical of a new director, but Jeff definitely has it. He knows what he wants. He's got a specific vision that he invites you to share, and that's the most important thing." Hounsou is very clear on why he chose to do this movie. He felt that there was a message to send out to audiences, particularly to young people. "Some kids are just completely lost," he says, bemoaning a general lack of parental supervision. "Martial Arts schools like the one Roqua runs are valuable in keeping kids off the street and in educating them to develop their bodies and minds. The character Roqua also stresses that it's important that martial arts is to be used only as a sport or for self-defense, which I thought was important." While the film is, in parts, very violent, does that mean it promotes violence? "This story does not advocate violence whatsoever," says Faris. "There's a lesson learned by my character. At first, he's filled with anger and hate and has an appetite for destruction. He wants to destroy anything that he feels insecure about. As he gains confidence, he wants to continue his training because it provides not only an outlet for his frustration but also a path towards becoming the best person that he can. He doesn't want to fight anymore to settle a score. That’s an important lesson for him." The actors underwent an extremely rigorous pre-production training by stunt and fight coordinators Damon Caro ("300", "Mr & Mrs Smith" & "Spider-Man 3") and Jonathan Eusebio ("Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles" & "Memoirs of a Geisha"). Caro and Eusebio were charged with keeping the action exciting while maintaining the believability of the storyline and keeping the moves cinematic. They also invested months in preparing and keeping the actors toned and capable of performing their stunts on screen. Training began about eight weeks before the cameras rolled, and the actors were put through the rigors of MMA. "Mixed martial arts is exactly what that sounds like; a mixture of kickboxing, grappling, throwing, elbowing and kneeing. It takes moves and formats from wrestling, jiu jitsu, karate, sambo, muay-thai, all sorts of disciplines," says Caro. "Most people who come to the sport either have a striking, jiu jitsu or wrestling background so they have proficient skills in one method and work towards including and blending the others." In the past, those who undertook Martial Arts training, only fought within their chosen discipline. Caro says all that changed thanks to one man. "Bruce Lee was a huge influence in breaking down that mindset. In his movies, in the 1970s, he would mix methods and piss everyone off. Fighters would challenge him and they’d end up either walking away with their teeth in their hands or the attitude of, wow, it’s actually working. So, little by little, those barriers came down." "The martial arts training was definitely one of the most painful ordeals I’ve been through but also the most rewarding," Faris notes. "The sports I played in movies were related to what I had played growing up but this was totally different. I had no familiarity with it or comfort zone. As I trained, I also realized that it’s also about state of mind; that it’s not about being a tough guy, but only for self defense." "A typical day of training would begin with fundamentals: punches, kicks, blocks, combinations," Gigandet said. "Then we’d concentrate on the planning and choreography of the fight: first with the stuntmen, and then Sean and I would do it. After a while, there would be this flow between us, so that although it was choreographed, it seemed real on many levels." "Growing up in France, I did seven years of kung fu and five years of boxing and that was tremendously helpful, but of course I still had to train for this movie," Hounsou says. "I spent about two to three weeks with the stunt coordinators before we started shooting." Producer David Zelon ("Into the Blue") trained in the Krav Maga Israeli martial arts system for two years. "Our goal was to capture the fights up close, to feel every hit," he revealed. "All of that started with our coordinators and the choreography and having the actors do as much as possible, so that nothing felt fake." Synopsis

Orlando, Florida with its ten-million dollar mansions set ten feet apart may as well be the moon for Iowa-native Jake. Here the privileged teenagers of this American Dream on steroids want for nothing; they zoom around upscale neighborhoods in expensive cars, wearing bikinis and flip-flops, affecting the jaded ennui of kids with too much, too soon. Life is one big party for them. Jake was a star athlete on the football team back home, but in this new city he is an outsider. Considered 'the new kid' with his taciturn attitude and lumberjack attire, Jake’s not winning friends anytime soon, and that’s OK with him. Quiet and withdrawn, he’s silently suffering from the recent loss of his father. It’s not long, however, before Jake’s troubled past re-emerges when a clip of a spectacular football-field fist fight from Iowa is forwarded around his new school. Later, at a party, he is unwittingly pulled into a fight with a bully named Ryan McCarthy. Defeated and humiliated, he turns to mixed martial arts instructor Jean Roqua.

The Verdict "A testosterone charged teen flick that delivers what you'd expect, and stangely enough, does it exceptionaly well. Comparisons with films films such as "Fight Club" and "The Karate Kid" are just a load of nonsense. "Never Back Down" has enough legs of it's own when it comes to it's 'raging bull' of a storyline. The films two protagonists, Jake Tyler (the good guy) and Ryan McCarthy (the arrogant smug bad guy) are played by Tom Cruise look a like Sean Faris and The O.C's Cam Gigandet. Both young men give strong performances in what are obviously, very physically demanding roles. The bonejarring fight scenes the two appear in are exceptionally well choreographed and appear on the screen to be the real deal, to a point. Amber Heard (Baja) hasn't done her career any harm by appearing in this film. Watch out for her in "Pineapple Express" (penned by Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg). Looking beyond the fight scenes, the romance and the scantily clad, buxom party chicks, the human drama, the angst and self pity there is one performance that can't be overlooked. It is that of two time Academy Award nominee and Sierra Award winner, Djimon Hounsou (JEE-mahn hahn-SOO). From the slave drama of "Amistad", to Juba in "Gladiator", the reclusive neighbor Mateo in "In America" and, the role of Mende fisherman Solomon Vandy in "Blood Diamond, this exceptional actor thrills audiences every time he appears on the screen. His performance as mixed martial arts instructor and proprietor of Jean Roqua's Combat Club is worth the admission price on its own. Won't suit everyone, but fans of the genre will get a real kick out of "Never Back Down". Recommended. 3 1/2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "NEVER BACK DOWN" stars .......
Sean Faris ["Twisted", "Sleepover" and "Yours, Mine and Ours"]; Amber Heard ["Friday Night Lights", "North Country", "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" and "The Beautiful Ordinary"]; Cam Gigandet ["Mistaken", "Who's Your Caddy?" and TV'S "The O.C."]; Evan Peters ["Sleepover", "Remarkable Power" and "An American Crime"]; Leslie Hope ["Talk Radio", "Men at Work" and "Bram Stoker's Shadowbuilder "] and Djimon Hounsou ["Gladiator", "In America", "The Island" and "Blood Diamond"] as Jean Roqua.
"NEVER BACK DOWN" was .......
directed by Jeff Wadlow ["The Tower of Babble", "Manual Labor" and "Cry_Wolf"]; screenplay by Chris Hauty ["Never Back Down"]; art direction by Andrew White ["Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector" and "Sydney White"]; costume design by Judy Ruskin Howell ["Billy Crystal", "Patch Adams", "Bruce Almighty", "Melinda and Melinda" and "Evan Almighty"]; production design by Ida Random ["Rain Man", "The War of the Roses", "Wyatt Earp" and "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift"]; set decoration by Scott Jacobson ["Ace Ventura: Pet Detective", "Me, Myself & Irene", "Shallow Hal" and "Stuck on You"]; director of photography Lukas Ettlin ["Transformers", "The Ghosts of Edendale" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning"]; original music by Michael Wandmacher ["The Interview", "Madagascar" and "Over the Hedge"]. Who's Who?

Sean Faris Amber Heard Cam Gigandet evan Peters Leslie Hope Djimon Hounsou Wyatt Smith Affion Crockett Neil Brown Jr Lauren Leech Tilky Jones Steven Crowley Tom Nowicki David Zelon Chris Lindsay Kyle Sabihy Patric Knutsson Cameron Francis Jeremy Palkowetz Jon McIntosh Chele André David J Perez

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Jake Tyler Baja Miller Ryan McCarthy Max Cooperman Margot Tyler Jean Roqua Charlie Tyler Beatdown DJ Swagga Aaron Jenny Eric Ben Costigan Mr Lloyd Ryan's Dad Beat Down Referee Jake's Teammate Vocabulary Guy ER Doctor Running Back Beat Down Computer Kid Max's Girl Miles Dupree

Run Time 110 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2008 - Summit Entertainment - All Rights Reserved ©2008 All Rights Reserved - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - Protected by Australian, International, Copyright & Trademark Laws.