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Parma native in tale reminiscent of 'Karate Kid'
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal
Published on Friday, Mar 14, 2008
While it seems hard to believe, it has been almost 24 years since The Karate Kid hit theaters, giving young people their own Rocky Balboa, making a star of Ralph Macchio and inspiring a series of sequels.
But a 16-year-old who saw that movie in a theater is now 40. The world of youth has changed considerably. Heck, it's radically different than it was in 1994, when the Karate franchise came to a miserable end with The Next Karate Kid, starring a pre-Oscars Hilary Swank.
The existence of the new movie Never Back Down might then be justified as a gutsy-underdog tale for the teenage children of those now-grown Karate Kid fans. Certainly the trappings are updated. The venue is now mixed martial arts. The world involves Internet video. The new Macchio, if the film succeeds, is former Parma resident Sean Faris.
But the story — unhappy kid finds fulfillment through a wise mentor and considerable butt-whupping — is as it has always been.
Faris plays Jake Tyler, a troubled kid who moves from Iowa to Florida so his younger brother, a rising tennis star, can get more training. It's also a fresh start for the Tyler family, still reeling from the death of Jake's father.
Jake's reaction has been anger, including a brutal incident back in Iowa that quickly becomes the stuff of gossip (and video replays) in Florida. His bad-boy reputation puts Jake on the radar of local tough guy Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet, Volchok on The O.C.). This does not prove to be a good thing for Jake.
But the young hero begins to find himself through mixed martial arts training with Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou), a coach with troubles of his own. Jake learns skills and wisdom from Jean, but another collision with Ryan still awaits.
Written by Chris Hauty and directed by Jeff Wadlow, Never Back Down is interesting looking at times, although the fight scenes tend to be sledgehammer-heavy in their visuals and their sound. Hounsou is a credible actor, Faris is all right, and Gigandet brings the appropriate amount of swagger to his villainous role.
But there are times when the plot swerves in unwieldy fashion. Jake's interaction with his mother (Leslie Hope) seems to be missing transitional scenes, for one thing.
And, again, we have seen this all before in different packaging. This is fresh only if you have never seen The Karate Kid or Rocky or any of the similarly themed movies made after those, including their own sequels.
That's not to say that Never Back Down is the worst of the lot. Not when the lot includes the likes of Over The Top (Sylvester Stallone as arm wrestler). And, while The Karate Kid itself was a crowd-pleaser, there was an abundance of implausibility and cartoon-like performances on the way to the final fight.
Sure, I'll pause during channel-flipping to catch the closing moments of Karate Kid one more time. I would be unlikely to do the same with Never Back Down. I didn't dislike it, but I did feel as if I was enduring it, headed toward a conclusion anyone in the audience could anticipate, and not feeling any particular exhilaration at the conclusion.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in a blog at http://www.ohio.com. Contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
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