NEVER BACK DOWN is a cheesy FIGHT CLUB for teens.  Rebellious teen (aren’t they all?) Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) moves to a new high school only to find himself drawn into an underground fight club using MMA (mixed martial arts).  Humiliated initially by the current MMA champ, Ryan (Cam Gigandet), he trains under Master Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou from BLOOD DIAMOND and AMISTAD) till our young ROCKY wins the fight and the girl, Baja (Amber Heard).

As a formulaic teen flick, director Wadlow (CRY WOLF) and scriptwriter Chris Hauty do it right, despite the clichéd storyline.  Most of the film is easy to bear with (except for a few parts like the one where Roqua obtains his Brazilian flight ticket to see her dad). Wadlow moves his film fast and furious with excellent executed fight and stunt scenes so that the almost 2 hour running time is hardly felt.  For the girls in the audience, there are Faris and Gigandet - great models with fantastic bods to gawk at and for the guys, the violent fights and the girly scenes (the girls grudge fight on the wet ground and the nude lesbian kissing segment in the bubbly bath) will more than suffice the sexual appetite.  The You Tube generation is well represented.

The coming-of-age bit in the film is thankfully kept to a minimum as the target audience is more interested in having a meaningless good time that learning life’s lessons.  In this respect, NEVER BACK DOWN delivers!  The only complaint is Roqua’s character overdone.  Who really cares if he goes back to Brazil or not?