FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Caryl
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
Paul Magne Haakonsen
For an action movie then this was as predictable as they come. Yep, it is one of those movies where an underdog receives a short period of training in martial arts, then rises to the occasion and wins despite impossible odds against many other well-trained combatants.Story-wise then "Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown" was rather generic and similar to many other similar movies before it. Actually it was almost a frame-by-frame copy of the first movie.What makes the movie somewhat worthy watching is the fight during the actual Beatdown event, but it doesn't take place before well over an hour into the movie. The rest of the movie was just, sorry to say, a rather mundane story.As for the acting, well I will say that it was adequate for the particular genre that it is. Just don't get your hopes up for academy award winning performances.This sequel is a blatant and unnecessary remake of the first "Never Back Down" movie, to the point where it was embarrassing to bear witness to. It wasn't a continuation or anything, and sure it was with other characters, but the plot and storyline was a copy and paste job that was made so hastily."Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown" is a mediocre action movie experience, although it does show some impressive fighting skills from Michael Jai White. It might be worth a watch if you enjoy fighting movies that is driven by the action and a solid storyline is left far behind in its wake.
Robert Bowling
After watching the first movie, Never Back Down, I was extremely excited to see this movie.That's about all the excitement that I had was the anticipation...The acting is terrible, the lines are cheesy, and the movie is extremely predictable.The only up to this film is that it made itself into a comedy for me and my friends to have jokes about for a couple weeks and to mock.I was surprisingly disappointed by this one and would never think to watch it again. There is too much wrong in this film and they completely destroyed the reputation of the first movie as much as I had enjoyed that one.
Kingston Hawke
The business side of movie-making dictates that the wider you cast your net, the more money you will make in return. This movie should be shown to anyone who subscribes to that theory as a cautionary tale.They literally tried to jam pack so many "can't miss" fight movie clichés into the script that by the end it sort of feels like Scary Movie 5 or something. I'm not even joking, it starts out solid, but half way through the movie when you notice they are just going to keep adding new story lines instead of developing the ones they've started I started scratching my head. Especially since the movie did just enough to not be rated PG-13. Literally, they could've deleted one flashing scene and not cursed so much and it probably would've been PG.I'm probably giving this movie a 5 only because my expectations were so low to begin with. If I'd of paid money and waited months to see this movie, I'd be irate! Especially since it could've been great if they'd of just scaled it back a bit. Having Todd Duffee in the movie may have seemed like a cool idea. But his WHOLE storyline is pointless and seems like an addition after the script was turned in. And that's on top of the fact that he's a garbage actor. You cut that WHOLE storyline, and devote that energy to further developing the two main characters stories and the movie may have been good enough to go to theaters.The ending needed changing as well. I'm guessing they were over budget and just needed to wrap things because it feels extremely rushed and anti-climatic. Hello... no one thinks the bad guy is going to win in this kind of movie, so how about not relying on selling us on that, and instead doing something dramatic. Bad guy should've sucker punched the boxer with the messed up eye, and the wrestler should've taken his revenge using something he learned and won the tourney. Pretty much the ending to Gladiator. In closing. If you're looking for a serious movie with substance, save your time. If you're an MMA fan that just wants to see some cool fighting, then maybe watch this movie if nothing else is on.
Rosser94
I was a huge fan of the original "Never Back Down", therefore was looking forward to seeing this follow-up.In terms of the plot, it is painfully similar to the original, however this is not necessarily a bad thing, as, surprisingly, the same, predictable story line is still entertaining second-time-round. In addition to this, the characters are very similar to those in the first film in many respects, just with a few fresh ideas being introduced.The action itself is strong; combat is well-acted and every fight scene is relatively convincing, therefore the film succeeds in, arguably, its key area.In addition to this, Jai White is brilliant and after being impressed by his performance in "Blood and Bone", I was pleasantly surprised to see that his ability has not halted. Furthermore, despite being unsure about his ability as a director, I was equally impressed.Overall, fans of the original who desire a similar dose of mixed martial arts action, or those who want an enjoyable, solid, MMA-based drama and are not concerned about a lack of depth or originality, should probably give this movie a try, however I'd advise watching the original first, as it is undoubtedly superior.
