Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown

"An angry mind is a narrow mind." Four teenagers who need an outlet begin to train with ex-UFC fighter Case (White). After one of them betrays the group it is up to the other three to get revenge at the "Beatdown." After liking the first one more then I thought I would I was looking forward to this one. While I did like this movie it was more of a remake then a sequel. Instead of the main characters dad dying he leaves his mom. Instead of the trainer getting in a fight with his brother and living alone he has a run in with the law...and lives alone. The main character liking a fellow fighters girl is in this one, along with a line about Kurt Cobain. There really is not much different in this movie, except the fighting is more professional. Saying all that though, I did like this movie. Overall, a near replica of the first one. If you liked that one you will like this one. I give it a B.

Would I watch again? - I don't know, maybe.

*Also try - Never Back Down

I never saw NEVER BACK DOWN, but this sequel features Michael Jai White so it was a must see for me. Four kids from varied backgrounds get training advice from down-on-his-luck former MMA star and now ex-con Case Walker (White). You have Tim (former UFC fighter Todd Duffee), a college student trying to help make ends meet for his single mom; Zack (Alex Meraz), a former boxer who just had a humiliating loss that resulted in a career ending eye injury; Justin (Scottie Epstein), the comic book geek looking to get revenge on the guys who beat him up; and Mike (Dean Geyer), a college freshman wrestler who falls for Zack's girl and is dealing with the fact that his father left his mom for another man (really!). Can you guess which character ends up going rogue and using his violent tools for bad? They all learn how to enhance their previous skills (boxing, wrestling) in order to become well-rounded mixed martial artists for the upcoming Beatdown show produced by Max (Evan Peters, apparently the only connection to the first film).

Heading direct-to-video, this sequel apparently hits all the same notes as the first film. The drama, for the most part, is very standard stuff, although I did find Case's personal history to be well down. In addition to the lead role as the trainer, Jai White also made his directorial debut here. The man definitely knows his martial arts and should be commended for not only the (mostly) realistic action and training, but also imparting some wisdom in terms of the discipline's mental aspects (watch for a funny bit where he quotes Bruce Lee). He seems to have learned a lot from directors like Isaac Florentine and doesn't cheat during the brawls. It also helps that he had Epstein, who is a black belt in jiu-jitsu, and Eddie Bravo, former UFC commentator and inventor of the rubber guard at 10th Planet, serving as technical consultants for the fights. Of course, you have to take the good with the bad and there are also some more "cinematic" fights. White also has a bizarre love for montages featuring the blandest of generic white boy rock. The acting is pretty good all-around, with surprisingly strong performances from martial artists Epstein and Duffee. I say that after nearly two decades of watching MMA fighters embarrass themselves on film. Look for current UFC light heavyweight Lyoto Machida in a small role as himself.

Just an action movie, without trying to be melodramatic. Yes, it's about 5 guys (including the mentor) with personal problems that seek the answer in training and fighting. There's not much background on the characters - but it's not necessarily bad. Sometimes the director is forcefully trying to make us like some character by making him/her an orphan, or raised by only one parent, or evil step parents, and also having an ill sibling, and no money of course. Did I mention that other kids/people trying to step on them, beat them, or kill them perhaps ?

There is no much character development in the movie, maybe except of Justin, but there is character portrayal. It's not hard to understand what kind of person each (and here I think that Michael Jay White did a great job). They all have got problems, but it's not like their world is collapsing on them. At least their not showing it to us - and I think that's good, since the fighter in them becomes more believable that way.

I agree that the acting is slightly wooden. And it's irritating at first, though I did get accustomed to it. Surprisingly, it's not full of clichés (though there are some), and the dialogs are not stupid, because the characters don't say obvious things.

The fighting is satisfying enough. After all, this is the reason I've watched that movie.

I certainly disagree with those saying first Never Back Down was better. This movie has almost no plot, but the first one was just stupid. The director of the original tried to make me like Jack Tyler by the usual trick - making him miserable but struggling. And Cam Giganet's character is barely watchable. He's just not acting like a fighter. The other fighters look more like a clowns. Fight choreography in the original is nowhere near this one. And all unnecessary shots from smart-phone make me ask the question, why watching the first Never Back Down movie ?? For the action - it's not worth it. The drama - not interesting and nothing new.

For an action movie then this was as predictable as they come. Yep, it is one of those movies where an underdog receives a short period of training in martial arts, then rises to the occasion and wins despite impossible odds against many other well-trained combatants.

Story-wise then "Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown" was rather generic and similar to many other similar movies before it. Actually it was almost a frame-by-frame copy of the first movie.

What makes the movie somewhat worthy watching is the fight during the actual Beatdown event, but it doesn't take place before well over an hour into the movie. The rest of the movie was just, sorry to say, a rather mundane story.

As for the acting, well I will say that it was adequate for the particular genre that it is. Just don't get your hopes up for academy award winning performances.

This sequel is a blatant and unnecessary remake of the first "Never Back Down" movie, to the point where it was embarrassing to bear witness to. It wasn't a continuation or anything, and sure it was with other characters, but the plot and storyline was a copy and paste job that was made so hastily.

"Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown" is a mediocre action movie experience, although it does show some impressive fighting skills from Michael Jai White. It might be worth a watch if you enjoy fighting movies that is driven by the action and a solid storyline is left far behind in its wake.

Much like the first movie this revolves around a bunch of guys trying to prove themselves, but unlike the first this is multi-starrer. But all the expectations can be kicked out within a few minutes into the movie. Bad acting by all of them (except for Michael White),no proper background to the characters, the characters aren't developed enough, lack of emotion and a few other traits add up to a very disappointing watch. You feel like you are just sitting there seeing a bunch of characters in scene after scene just stringed together. In some particular instances the movie makes no sense what so ever. The first movie was filled with emotions creating a reason for Jake Tyler(Sean Farris) to fight his way into the beatdown,but here it just a group of guys swearing at an alarming rate fighting each other. There are a few saving graces though, like the training sessions where you can see some insane work-out methods. All in all an average movie.