Jake Tyler is a troubled teen. He’s dealing with anger and guilt over the death of his father, killed in an accident while driving drunk. When he’s taunted by another player in the last high school football game he’ll play in before moving to a new town, he snaps and a huge fight breaks out. You get the impression that it’s not the first time Jake’s anger issues have gotten him into hot water. Heading towards a new life along with his mom and little brother, he’ll be leaving all that behind and starting fresh.

Or, maybe not. Unbeknownst to Jake, his fracas was videotaped and placed online. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, his new school already knows about Jake and his fighting prowess. That’s going to bring him unwanted attention from a group of kids at his new school, led by a local mixed martial arts champion named Ryan McCarthy. They’ve checked out his video and they want to see Jake fight, whether he likes it or not. All too soon Jake is faced with having to decide how far he’ll go to protect his friends and family from Ryan who is driven to be the best at any cost.

If the plot for Never Back Down sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone. This could practically be a remake of just about any of the Karate Kid movies. Boy moves to new town, boy meets girl, boy runs into bully using martial arts, boy finds wise mentor to pass on skills, boy fights bully. There’s no “wax on, wax off” moment on tap though, much to my disappointment.

The acting is serviceable; the material isn’t much of a stretch. For the most part they’re television veterans you’d recognize from shows about teen-aged high school kids. Sean Faris plays Jake against Cam Gigandet’s bullying Ryan. Amber Heard provides the love interest. Lending much needed comic relief to a film that tends to be serious at times is Evan Peters as Jake’s sidekick Max.

The somewhat surprising cast member is Academy Award-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou as martial arts instructor Roquoa. Despite his role as owner of the martial arts school, he’s more of a dramatic presence in the film and brings his usual intensity to the part.

Never Back Down is clearly trying to capitalize on the burgeoning popularity of mixed martial arts, a fighting sport that combines elements of several traditional fighting styles including boxing and grappling. The danger in a film like this is the potential glamorization of the unsupervised, semi-organized approach. The film treads a fine line, but I don’t think it steps over.

The positive benefits of martial arts training are well presented. The contrasts between Jake’s and Ryan’s motivations are very clear. Like so many things, the difference between “good” and “bad” is a matter of degrees. That said I still imagine we’ll see future headlines laying problems with fighting at school on films like this one.

So should you see Never Back Down? Maybe. I found it entertaining though certainly formulaic. There’s an interesting subplot covering Jake’s struggles coming to grips with his father’s death and learning to handle his anger in a positive way. It added a degree of much needed depth to what otherwise would have just been a “fight film.” If you’re a fan of martial arts you might find the fighting scenes engaging, though not really anything to write home about. On the other hand, you won’t really be missing out if you decide to wait for the DVD.

Never Back Down is rated PG-13 for “mature thematic material involving intense sequences of fighting/violence, some sexuality, partying and language—all involving teens.” I would say that it’s a fine line between PG-13 and an R rating in my opinion on this one. The fighting is fairly graphic and at times bloody. The sexual situations are implied but it’s right on the edge.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Michael attended a promotional screening of Never Back Down.