Never Back Down

The children of YouTube culture look to the 1980s to fight each other with the intensity of Fight Club, to instead only end up gawking at girls in bikinis and the latest MTV hits. It's "no-brain" entertainment for a long summer evening, with no scene without a cliché and no character without an archetype. I give it 3 ½, which is held back only by the runtime - two hours is a hell of a lot for a film like this. (18.08.2008)

What's the point of a film like this when every motif is so awfully stale and we know exactly how it's going to end the moment we read the synopsis? As a stylish, dynamically edited and motivational video with a good cast, it works more than adequately and we can follow the protagonist, his cruelly sexy girlfriend and ultra-charismatic coach until the end without any major psychological damage, but those who want something more, something beyond the conventional narrative equation, which the script describes with the verve of only a handful of similar stories for spoiled teenagers, will have to go elsewhere. Fortunately, I didn't want much more, and so a slightly overwhelming sense of satisfaction prevailed the moment the handsome, loving and virtuous boy knocked that awful rich c*nt out with a blinding punch. Symbolic, isn’t it? 60% (18.11.2012)

Sometimes one wonders how a “Karate Kid” story, seen a hundred times over, can thrive in modern times, but here it has truly succeeded. Let's overlook all the clichés about the outsider trained by a wise master, who eventually triumph together when the younger one beats up opponents and the older one solves their family problems. It is incredibly obvious, striking to the eye, yet the action is very interesting and captivating in terms of acting thanks to Djimon Hounsou – this man has such incredibly raw, explicit style that takes your breath away. He showed it in Gladiator, in Blood Diamond, and now he proves it again in a minimal space. Mostly because of him, this can be endured, even though the label “no brain” is a given. (04.11.2008)

I guess I watched the movie at the wrong time or something... I love sports movies, but here I felt more like I was at a failed fashion show in my underwear. I'm probably going to do it again:-) (09.02.2011)

Such is the classic film where a boy has some talent, in this case, it's fighting, but he gets beaten up. And then he finds a mentor who turns him into a proper warrior, and the boy himself teaches the mentor something. Of course, the boy ends up getting the girl, this time the annoying Amber Heard, and they all live happily ever after. (02.06.2016)