Oh, how all the far-left critics will be crying out about
how Never Back Down is an immoral picture that celebrates
the violence of revenge! (These, of course, are the same folks
who said that Kill Bill was a-Okay for the kiddies to
watch because it was too “unrealistic” for them to take
seriously.) Indeed, Never Back Down is a movie that
ultimately justifies the “eye-for-an-eye” philosophy. Unlike my
fellow reviewers, however, I don’t have any gripes with this.
The real problem with the movie —the one that everybody seems to
be ignoring—is that it indulges in exactly what it preaches
against: the very senseless violence that causes its
protagonist to seek revenge. Never Back Down is a motion
picture of the utmost degree of hypocrisy; it decries the blood
and bruises shed in its story’s many underground-fight
sequences, but turns a blind eye when these are positively
glamorized by the flashy visuals implemented by director Jeff
Wadlow.
I hate to be the guy lecturing about
morals and ethics in film—is it really my place as one who
merely wants to enjoy the pictures he sees?—but the task seems
an obligatory one here. Never Back Down seems innocent
enough at first glance, indulging in same politics of high
school-drama as most other teen-targeted fare. In this very
benign state, however, the movie plays mind-tricks on viewers
who turn their brains off for its 110-minute duration. Part of
the danger of Never Back Down is that it rarely ever
appears to be coming off as a message-movie, and yet it
(consciously or unconsciously) vocalizes a rather militant
agenda. Sure, the movie’s main character, Jake Tyler (Sean Faris),
may just want to beat up his high school’s token asshole, Cam
(Ryan McCarthy), in order to gain the right to steal Cam’s über-hot
girlfriend Baja (Amber Heard). But it takes a lot of punches for
Jake to get to his ultimate destination. Even though he is
learning the principles of non-violence from mixed-martial-arts
trainer Jean Roqua (Djimon Honsou) along the way, the movie
never reflects this. Jake may never intend to harm anybody on
his path to revenge, but the viewer certainly sees him
inflicting both physical and emotional pain on countless others.
As citizens of a movie-going society,
we must realize that something is wrong when a studio wants us
to watch a movie for its violence. As much I realize that
this statement is rife for misinterpretation, I also know that
it needs to be said. (In other words, just because Chigurh
killed people with an air-gun in No Country for Old Men
and Buffalo Bill skinned women in The Silence of the Lambs
doesn’t mean we watch those films to revel in their violent
qualities.) No matter what sense of morality Never Back Down
may think it holds, the movie bombards its viewers with shot
after shot of violent imagery, practically asking them to scream
“That’s so cool!” after any character, good or bad, lands
a punch. (Oh, and did I mention that it somehow managed to earn
a PG-13 rating?) Realizing this, maybe the politically-correct,
non-violent left-wingers of the world are right in this
particular instance. Could writer Chris Hauty and director
Wadlow possibly have accomplished what I wished they had done by
depicting all violence other than that of the film’s final
showdown as having a negative effect? Perhaps it’s just too hard
to restrain such an urge in Hollywood. For this reason, Never
Back Down is a film that’s worth boycotting. And because
Sean Faris can’t act his way out of a paper-bag. Can’t forget
that.
-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews
Review Published on: 3.20.2008
Screened on: 3.18.2008 at the Krikorian Vista Village
Metroplex 15 in Vista, CA.