Tonight's showing: Never Back Down 2
I love martial arts and MMA. As part of this years goals (I always make a new agenda in October) I've been looking at a new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Kickboxing gym. The instructor is highly recommended by several people I respect, and I trained with the instructor at Fox Fitness a few years ago once or twice. He knows his stuff.
Needless to say I'm in the mood for some martial arts cinema. Don't judge me.
I'll put the You Tube trailer here, then make some comments.
Never Back Down 2 follows the tried and true martial arts movie formula: underdog (in this case underdogs) train for a big fight. I really enjoyed the training segments, which were quick, yet full of some real MMA moves. Boxing, Capoeira, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and kick boxing. Some of the highlighted BJJ moves included interesting arm bars and triangle set-ups, plus the Rubber Guard (courtesy of Eddie Bravo, who made a cameo in the movie). Bravo developed a unique style of BJJ and is well known in the MMA world for unorthodox techniques that work. Traditionalist aren't a big fan of his. I own one of his books, though I lack the extreme flexibility many of his moves require.
Lyoto Machida (former UFC light heavyweight champion) also had a nice cameo. Which brings me to Michael Jai White, Case Walker in the film. This guy has some cool movie moves, and eight black belts in various martial arts. In Never Back Down 2, he plays the Sensei teaching four young fighters. His troubled past ruined his career, but it is implied even the best and most famous fighters in the world respect his skill. (That is where Machida comes in. The martial arts legend drops in for a quick training session. Sounds corny, but it was cool.)
Now, the plot thickens, into a cheesy soup. I enjoyed the movie. I liked the characters. The plot survived mostly because I wanted it to and was having fun with all the fight scenes and waiting to see if Eve and Stokes get together. This was expected, and fulfilled, though a little awkward since the movie starts off with Eve being the girlfriend of Stoke's friend and training partner, Gomes. Fine, fine. But to make the expected hook-up happen, Gomes had to be out of the picture, since the movie's hero couldn't very well steal his friend's girl. So Gomes starts being a jerk, cheats, and breaks up with Eve. It was abrupt and dumb, though it provided an excuse for a lot of strippers to flash cleavage at the Gomes character.
Perhaps the most interesting and potentially risky plot device / character development tool was Stoke's inner conflict. Basically, everyone learns his dad left his mother for another man. I wasn't really pay attention the first few times this was mentioned. Then I realized Stokes is mad and embarrassed because his dad is gay, or so it seems. He's actually more upset about something else, but that comes later.
End the end, he accepts his dad and reveals he is more angry that his dad left than why or how. Of course, everything works out in the end.
The part I didn't care for was the villain. One of the four training partners turns out to be a psycho who they all have to fight. This character seemed like a good guy, a comic store clerk at first, who eventually becomes one step away from a serial killer. I'd say more, but that would spoil what little plot there is.
My rating: 3 stars, 4 if you really like martial arts. Now, as I often do when rating a movie or book, I'd like to mention the bottom line. I enjoyed the movie. You might think it's awesome or complete crap. I use the 5 star rating (5 meaning I'll watch it again and again, 1 meaning I feel robbed, 3 and 4 meaning the cathartic experience was worth my time.)
I hope you enjoyed this review. Since this is my blog, I will now promote my books: Dragon Badge and Dragon Attack (urban fantasy / cop thrillers) and Enemy of Man (a military science fiction tale of adventure and deadly aliens). All three books are currently $0.99 ebooks, but will normally be $2.99.
Check out my web site, www.scottmoonwriter.com for more information and audio book links.
Thanks for reading. You're the best.
Never Back Down 2 cast:
Michael Jai White (Case Walker)
Alex Meraz (Zack Gomes)
Dean Geyer (Mike Stokes)
Evan Peters (Max Cooperman)
Todd Duffee (Tim Newhouse)
Jilian Murray (Eve)
John McCarthy
Laura Cayouette (Vale Newhouse)
Lance E. Nichols (Official Agent)
Rus Blackwell (Cop)
Beau Brasso
Scottie Epstein (Justin Epstien)
Stacey Asaro
