NEVER BACK DOWN Karate Kid for the MMA crowd

[sanjuro_ronin]

Stuff like this just hurts my brain.

[Yao Sing]

Wasn't going to post because I didn't have anything good to say about this film. Some fight scenes were cut. They had some real MMA guys from local gyms and only used them in the background.

Lot's of close-ups and quick-cuts, the usual "fake it because you used actors instead of fighters". Not only that but the storyline is oh so typical, it follows the usual formula to the point where spoilers are impossible. You can predict just about every scene.

So:
no good storyline
no interesting twists/turns
no good fighting
no interesting dialog

Pretty much has nothing going for it except that it panders somewhat to the guys (EDIT: make that KIDS) interested in underground fighting.

Now, I never liked The Karate Kid (I like Sean Farris about as much as I like Ralph Machio) and it created a following so this one might do better than I expect but nobody leaving this showing had anything but negative comments.

I'm really glad I didn't pay to see it. My friend and fellow actor is a MMA fighter and personal trainer (write an article for MMA Magazine - Chris Adler) and he felt the same about it as I did (he was glad to hear I agreed). Plus they cut a few of his scenes and his dialog. :-)

Oh, 1bad65 will like the car though.

[jigahus]

Just watching the spots for it on tv I knew it was a POS.

[GeneChing]

...it's the "evolution of The Karate Kid"

Actor gets his big break
Parma man knows to make dream reality, he must 'Never Back Down'
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Sunday, Mar 09, 2008

Former Parma resident Sean Faris feels as if he is carrying a new movie on his back. His back felt the pain, figuratively and literally.

The graduate of Padua Franciscan High School, who turns 26 later in March, has known since high school that he wanted to be a working actor. He skipped college, heading to Hollywood when he was 18, determined to make it.

''I love 'Action!' to 'Cut!' '' he said during a recent visit to Cleveland to promote the movie Never Back Down, which opens Friday.

''I love acting. That's the greatest adrenalin rush. . . .

''I didn't even take my SATs because I knew that going to college wasn't going to help me,'' Faris said with a growing intensity. ''An SAT score meant nothing in my line of business. I didn't take my SATs on purpose, to make it even harder for me to come back, to just give up. I gave myself no outs. . . .

''I would rather be broke and doing whatever I gotta do. I was tearing down garages and rebuilding them as guest houses. And moving my manager's rich celebrity clients from one mansion to the next mansion, to pay my rent. I never did get a regular job, 'cause I didn't want to have any comfort and money. . . . And after three years, I was fully self-supportive as an actor.''

Over the last eight years, he has built a resume that includes two TV series (Life as We Know It and Reunion) as well as some big-screen appearances; he was Dennis Quaid's oldest son in Yours, Mine and Ours. But the biggest deal to date is Never Back Down. He is the central character and star.

Faris plays Jake Tyler, a former football star with a lot of anger about the death of his father. As the movie begins, Jake's family is moving to Orlando, Fla., and he's both a newcomer and outsider. He quickly runs afoul of the school's toughest kid (Cam Gigandet, The O.C.). But he also finds solace through a mixed-martial-arts class and its coach (Djimon Hounsou).

The story of the movie is very familiar; Faris calls it an evolution of The Karate Kid, with mixed martial arts (MMA) instead of karate as its focus. Still, he said, ''I love the message of the movie, to fight for the right reasons — to fight for love, to fight to defend yourself, not out of anger and rage.''

But while Faris had been in sports in high school and had trained for sports in other show-biz productions, nothing prepared him for the effort required in Never Back Down. ''This is definitely the most intense thing I've been through in my life as far as physical training goes,'' he said.

While he was a fan of MMA, he had not done it before. Training took six hours a day, six days a week, for three months, he said. ''And that was just the stunt training and the choreography of the fight scenes,'' he said. ''We also spent a couple of hours a day with a weight trainer.''

Cast members had to see a chiropractor and a massage therapist regularly during training. Faris also was eating 5,000 calories a day, he said, to put on weight while doing all that work. ''We had to consume, consume, consume,'' he said. ''Six meals a day. It was ridiculous.''

And, even with all that training, it was dangerous.

During a fight training scene with Hounsou, Faris said, ''we did about eight, 10 takes of him body-slamming me, and then a hanging-arm throw. Finally my back gave out. . . . But I didn't know I broke it for about two weeks. I kept complaining to the producers — 'I can do it, man, but I'm hurtin'.' ''

Faris thinks the producers shrugged off his complaints as the laments of an actor being pushed, and that ''I don't think they realized my tolerance for pain from being in sports all my life.'' Finally, one day, his back seized up. He had to rest for six hours before finishing a scene. Then he went to a hospital, and discovered he had a severe back injury.

But he didn't back down.

Fight scenes were delayed while he healed. ''We did all the dialogue scenes,'' he said, although even for that ''they shot me through with painkillers.'' Eventually, he did the fight scenes, too, ''and I still did 75 percent of my stunts.''

Asked why he didn't just walk away, he said, ''The movie would have fallen apart. It's a $30 million film and it's Summit (Entertainment)'s first movie as a studio. This is my chance to really break through, and the last thing I want to do is let the insurance company know that I had a back injury that I couldn't finish the job with, because I'd never get insured for an action movie again.''

Filming the remaining fight scenes, he admitted he was fearful, but also confident in the cast and the stunt crew. ''So we got in there and did it.''

Now, he said, he is healed. He has traveled the country to promote the movie. But Faris still is trying not to think past ''Action'' and ''Cut.''

Asked how Never Back Down will do at the box office, he said, ''I have no idea. I'm staying here on planet Earth. I'm not gonna go to the moon right now, and live on cloud nine. I hear a lot of great things . . . but I've been in this business for eight years. I know how things go. . . . I just take it as it comes. . . .

''People don't realize the sacrifices that we (actors) make. They think that actors show up to work, we do a couple of lines, go home, live this fabulous life, have all this money. They don't see about when you've lived in an apartment on the floor, no money, no job, didn't know if you'd even break into the business. They don't talk about the 16-hour days. . . .

''But 'Action' to 'Cut' is what I love. I may complain here and there, when it's just too much, but everybody complains in every job at some point. At the end of the day, I am the most fortunate person.''

During a fight training scene with Hounsou, Faris said, ''we did about eight, 10 takes of him body-slamming me, and then a hanging-arm throw. Finally my back gave out. . . . But I didn't know I broke it for about two weeks. I kept complaining to the producers — 'I can do it, man, but I'm hurtin'.' ''

[GeneChing]

...that's all?

Tom Cruise and Cindy Crawford got together I’d be the byproduct

On a kick: Faris scores with martial arts role in ‘Never Back Down’
Stephen Schaefer By Stephen Schaefer / Movies
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 - Updated 4h ago

Yeah, he knows.

Texas native Sean Faris, who stars in Friday’s “Never Back Down,” is a ringer for the Tom Cruise of 20 years ago, though taller.

“It’s funny,” said Faris, 25, (“Sleepover,” “Yours, Mine and Ours”) “People once wrote an article, if Tom Cruise and Cindy Crawford got together I’d be the byproduct.

“I got upset at one point, but I have my own career now. I do my thing,” said Faris (no relation to Anna Faris).

Like Ashton Kutcher and Josh Duhamel, his trip to Hollywood came via winning a modeling contest right after high school.

“Less than a month after I came out here,” he told the Herald, “I got cast in a teeny, teeny role in ‘Pearl Harbor.’ But my character stuck around, so I worked for two-and-a-half months. My head swelled so big, I couldn’t get through a door. ‘I’m going to be a star!’ ”

Faris can laugh now. “I spent all my money in a month. Broke, I didn’t work again for six months. The reality check set in, and I started over with acting classes.”

That was eight years ago, and now Faris has the starring role of Jake Tyler in “Never Back Down.”

Jake, haunted by the recent death of his alcoholic father, learns mixed martial arts under the tutelage of a wise mentor (two-time Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou) and gets his life in order.

“I’d never done mixed martial arts before in my life. I trained six hours a day, six days a week, for three-and-a-half months. That was not easy,” Faris said.

“In this business, a lot of times you sacrifice your personal life for your career,” he added. “That’s why I’ve never had a ‘normal’ job, as a waiter or anything like that. I wanted to stay extremely hungry - and I was.”

[冠木侍]

You never know...this could be Sean's breakout roll. All we have to go on is the tv trailer. I think I'll wait to watch it (either in the theatre or on dvd later on) and then give some sort to critique.

[GeneChing]

If nothing else, the number of reviews are a demonstration of the film's relevance. I like this LA Times piece because it brings up Flashpoint and Red Belt too. The author is paying more attention than most others.

Mixed martial arts films have a chokehold on action
Get ready for a wave of mixed martial arts films. Even Mamet is in the ring.
By Chris Lee, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 13, 2008
SINCE the '70s, they have arrived in grind-house movie theaters each year with the inexorable certainty of new moons and changing seasons: martial arts films featuring sweaty men engaged in hand-to-hand combat, pledging fealty to codes of honor, duty and dojo respect.

But 2008 is shaping up to be a watershed on the chop-socky film front.

To hear it from Hong Kong movie stars, zeitgeist chasers, action enthusiasts -- even a Serious Auteur -- Hollywood has set its sights on the next new thing: mixed martial arts.

In MMA (as aficionados call this polymathic blood sport), every physical punishment short of eye-gouging, biting and below-the-belt cheap shots is officially sanctioned. It's the stuff of those hugely popular Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts: down and dirty, jujitsu-style grappling that utilizes a repertoire of arm bars, leg locks, chokeholds and submission poses in addition to the obligatory karate kicks and punches.

Ergo, the new movies featuring MMA -- the teen-skewing coming-of-age story "Never Back Down" and the bloody Hong Kong police procedural "Flash Point" (both of which open Friday); David Mamet's martial arts Catch-22 "Redbelt" (out in May); and the documentaries "Caged for Life" (which will screen at the Beverly Hills Film Festival next month) and the well-reviewed, mom-and-pop-produced indie feature "Under Pressure: Diary of a Cage Fighter's Wife" -- showcase gritty fisticuffs and wrestling tussles quite unlike the vast majority of filmic fighting popular up until this point.

"Flash Point" star Donnie Yen is one of Asia's most revered action heroes, a veteran of some 50 thrillers who directed all the stunts in his latest film. In Yen's view, MMA's visceral approximation of nasty street brawling already has changed the face of movie action -- a revolutionary shift away from the stylized kind of high-wire fight choreography that helped popularize films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and the "Matrix" trilogy.

"I think MMA is here to stay," Yen said by phone from Shanghai. "For me as an action director, it's where action filmmaking is going. Now people will laugh at you if you do all that fancy jumping in the air. It wouldn't work in a real situation. I think you're going to have MMA in contemporary action films from now on."

Teen fighters

It's enough to make Jean-Claude van Damme cry. Unlike with previous generations of movie tough guys, the victor in MMA films' climactic battles is never the last man standing. He's either on the ground with the other guy in a headlock or twisting his limbs into a pretzel.

In "Never Back Down" -- the first American-made MMA-focused film to receive a wide theatrical release -- hot-headed Iowa football hero Jake Tyler (played by Sean Faris) relocates to Orlando, Fla., only to find himself sucked into a teen version of "Fight Club" after the school bully (Cam Gigandet) publicly humiliates him using MMA. But under the tutelage of a sagely mixed martial arts instructor (Djimon Hounsou in the Mr. Miyagi role), Jake attempts to right his life, channel his rage into positivity and protect those he loves from MMA bullies.

"Never Back Down's" director, Jeff Wadlow, said he was aware of MMA's reputation as the fastest-growing sport in America but hardly qualified as an aficionado before signing on to the project. "There are some good reasons it's exploding in popularity and some not-so-good reasons," Wadlow said. "People can appreciate the strategic, tactical aspects of close-quarters, ground game fighting. But there are people who perceive MMA as more violent, as legalized street fighting. We wanted to look at it in terms of life as a struggle. As Djimon's character says, 'Everyone has their fight.' "

"Never Back Down's" writer, Chris Hauty, said he felt fortunate to be an early responder to MMA's sudden mass appeal. "I couldn't believe there were so few attempts to set a film in this world," Hauty said. "In any subject, there's only a limited number of stories to tell. So when there's the inevitable movie featuring an MMA master being blasted off to Planet X, you'll know the ground is too well tilled."

Tamera and Todd Sturgis, the director and documentary subject of "Under Pressure," never set out to make an MMA movie. Todd Sturgis, a former state wrestling champion turned long-haul truck driver, was looking to get back into fighting shape via mixed martial arts. And Tamera Sturgis (who also drives a big rig and has appeared in the "Stacked & Packed" calendar series as a bikini model) started filming his training sessions in 2003 to show friends and family the brutal yet fascinating subculture into which her husband had thrown himself.

"I thought, 'This is insane. I have to get this on tape,' " she said. "But then I got so much interest from anyone who ever saw me with a camera -- everyone I came across was saying, 'I want to see whatever it is you shot' -- I thought, 'There's a lot more to this than showing the family what Todd's doing at the downtown gym.' "

The couple self-financed the $50,000 film, a personal saga that depicts not only cringe-inducing cage match action but also the tight-knit MMA community (wives, children, parents and even supportive librarians). Three years after its completion, "Under Pressure" has not been picked up by a distributor despite glowing reviews in the MMA press (for info, check www.mycagefighter.com).

The documentary "Caged for Life" similarly depicts the heartbreak, jubilation and grueling training regimen that come with competing in MMA. The film also spotlights the sport's growing maturation, following a selection of male and female combatants headed for a title ticket to be broadcast on Showtime -- mixed martial arts' premium cable TV premiere. (Last month, CBS announced plans to begin airing MMA fight cards on Saturday nights beginning next year.)

David Mamet's 'Redbelt'

But of the current crop of mixed martial arts movies, none comes with the art-house expectations or concerted, multi-platform marketing push of essayist-playwright-director-screenwriter David Mamet's "Redbelt."

The action drama follows Brazilian jujitsu instructor Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who imparts to his students street survival skills in lieu of promoting contest competition. A series of unfortunate events brings Mike into the orbit of an action movie hero (Tim Allen) and his Hollywood minions. But soon, Mike finds himself backed into a corner as a result of an elaborate con job and is forced to violate his personal ethics -- he never fights for profit -- in order to salvage his business, marriage and sense of pride.

According to "Redbelt" producer Chrisann Verges, Mamet felt compelled to set the movie within MMA because of his personal involvement with jujitsu. The 60-year-old Oscar nominee is an accomplished martial artist.

"David's a brown belt; he started training six years ago and got captivated by the whole world of fighters -- by their dignity and respect for tradition," Verges said. "He wanted to write an American samurai story and thought the world of jujitsu would be perfect for it."

The producer denied that MMA's sudden cultural ubiquity had factored into Mamet's interest: "There was no commercial impetus. He had no idea MMA was going to take off. He was not trying to cash in on something."

"Redbelt's" distributor, Sony Pictures Classics, plans to promote the film to both the art house and the grind house: It's running commercials and holding giveaway contests in conjunction with the mucho macho cable channel Spike TV. But also, Mamet has been invited to privately screen the movie for members at New York's Lincoln Center.

"This movie legitimizes the world of MMA," said Sony Pictures Classics co-founder and co-president Tom Bernard. "Mamet made a fight movie that's like a '40s fight movie with John Garfield. It's not exploitative. You don't have guys going to Thailand, sweating it out. So we have two campaigns: one directed at MMA guys and another at the more upscale theaters. The movie appeals to both sides."

[GeneChing]

... is our review. Make sure you forward it to your friends

NEVER BACK DOWN - MMA Meets KARATE KID by Dr. Craig Reid

[doug maverick]

i'm tempted to see this.

[GeneChing]

You'll have to give us a review when you do, Doug. I think I'm still going to wait for the DVD.

'Never Back Down'

ALERT VIEWER Youth drama. Starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard, Djimon Hounsou and Cam Gigandet. Directed by Jeff Wadlow (PG-13. 113 minutes. At Bay Area theaters. For complete movie listings and show times, and to buy tickets for select theaters, go to sfgate.com/movies.)

"Never Back Down" is a junior version of "Fight Club," only with no movie stars and different moves. The killer sport practiced by a group of Orlando teens is called mixed martial arts - or MMA, as insiders say. It's a combination of wrestling, karate, judo, sambo and other exotic disciplines.

The boys compete like Roman gladiators in front of a noisy crowd that eggs them on. There will be blood, and copious amounts of it. Closing your eyes to avoid excess gore - one fighter practically has the skin ripped off his face, for example - only helps so much. The amplified sound of bodies being slammed together or scraped along the floor or of kicks administered full force to limbs creates a picture in your mind even if you're not looking.

Around these competitions, the filmmakers have fashioned a formulaic story of a troubled teenager, Jake (Sean Faris), who moves from Iowa to Orlando after his father is killed in a car crash for which Jake blames himself. A star football player in Iowa, Jake achieves legendary status by beating up a competitor who calls his dad a drunk. His new classmates have seen the fight on YouTube and are anxious to initiate him in MMA.

YouTube plays a major role in "Never Back Down." There's a sense that everything these youngsters do is fodder for videotape. To the extent this is true, private moments hardly exist.

The class bully, Ryan (Cam Gigandet), goads Jake into a fight before he's ready, using the sexy Baja (Amber Heard) as bait. Jake, who lives with his mother and brother in a small condo, is in awe when he arrives at Ryan's mansion for a party. It could be the Playboy mansion, with two girls kissing in a bubble bath and a bunch more hanging out at the pool in bikinis. Looking around, Jake realizes the only way he'll ever best Ryan and get Baja's attention is in a competition.

Jeff Wadlow, who won a contest paying $1 million to make his first film, "Cry Wolf," directs "Never Back Down" at a frenzied pace as if building up anticipation for Jake and Ryan's first rumble. Jake's flashbacks to his father's death appear in fast motion.

After losing the first fight, Jake studies mixed martial arts under a master (Djimon Hounsou). You might wonder what a two-time Oscar nominee is doing in a movie for teens. Far from acting like he's slumming, he brings great dignity to the role, not to mention muscles.

The fights are parceled out at intervals during the last half, all leading to a climactic battle. But it's hard to build suspense when you know it is coming and you know who will win.

Faris is movie-star handsome but rather stiff in scenes calling for him to be emotional. You don't buy his attachment to Baja. Heard is more energetic during the romantic parts, but the costume department isn't doing her any favors by dressing her so scantily. Most of the men in the audience will have their attention diverted from whatever she has to say. Gigandet, the best known of the trio from his starring role on "The OC," shamelessly overacts, flaring his nostrils to show Ryan's contempt for Jake.

"Never Back Down" pretty much goes by the book for this kind of movie. But one scene sticks out. In a classic literature course, the teacher asks about the significance of Achilles' shield. From the students' interest, you wonder if they're thinking it could come in handy at the next MMA meet.

-- Advisory: Gore, fight scenes and provocative clothing.

- Ruthe Stein

[doug maverick]

well i said i'm tempted to see it. i didn't say in the theaters but just because i want to see djimon honsou do some martial arts cause i think this guy would make a excellent black panther. plus i know he has a strong back ground in kung fu and boxing.

[SevenStar]

I may go check this out tonight, not sure. Anyhoo, regardless of how good or bad the movie is, it does mark an evolution - a good one, IMO. Personally, I get sick of the sped up, high flying wire fighting. If I wanted high flying and camera effects, I would watch power rangers. I think they were on the right track with the fight scenes on the 'Bourne' series, and I think this may be a logical progression of that. Today, we have mma, we have reality shows, etc. In the mist of the reality craze, why are we still featuring movies with absurdly unreal fight scenes?

[GeneChing]

...you'll have to give us your review here.

[冠木侍]

This movies is likened to the Karate Kid but for some reason, the vibe I get from this movie reminds me of Only of the Strong.

[doug maverick]

only the strong. i don't know where you get that from. only the strong took place in a poor "ghetto" where as this is about rich white kids with to much time on there hands.