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The fight tournament in the new movie Never Back Down is called the Beatdown. How appropriate. It could refer to the movie itself, a film about a type of fighting called Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), essentially a mixture of boxing and karate and a notch above street fighting. Derivative and just plain silly, it has a scrappy sensibility that makes it modestly entertaining at times, though its notions of a contemporary version of The Karate Kid or the mellow 70’s TV series Kung Fu are uninspired.

You’ve seen the story a million times, but here it is: Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) is a star Iowa high school athlete whose father died tragically when he was drinking and driving. His mother (Leslie Hope) moves him and his younger brother Charlie (Wyatt Smith) across country to Florida so Charlie, a rising young tennis athlete can competitively compete. Jake’s fighting abilities make him already well known at his Florida high school ala You Tube.

Jake becomes quick pals with the goofy Max (Evan Cooperman), who introduces him a sport known as Mixed Martial Arts, and with his reputation preceding him, gets into it with the school meanie Ryan McCarthy (Cam Cigandet), the reigning local MMA champion with a hot girlfriend named Baja (Amber Heard) who Jake becomes quickly attracted to. Max also introduces him to his instructor, the muscular lean Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) who helps him become an expert in the art of MMA so he can eventually defeat the jerk Ryan and help him define who he really is.

This second-rate ripoff of other marital arts stories has a couple of things going for it.  Unsurprisingly, the well-choreographed fight scenes of Never Back Down are the most enjoyable part of the movie. Second, it has the Oscar-nominated Hounsou, always a watchable, intense actor, who is the best actor in the movie in the Pat Morita role, yet even he gives a take-the-money-and-run performance. Everything else about it smells of unoriginality and banality to high heaven.

Never Back Down’s writing, acting and direction are as unmemorable and uninspiring as anything seen since Step Up 2: The Streets. The twenty-something actors playing high schoolers reek of bland implausibility. In the Ralph Macchio role is Tom Cruise lookalike Faris, he and the pretty Elisabeth Shue-ish Heard, unfortunately named Baja, have no chemistry; the handsomely blond Cigandet, channeling a young Mickey Rourke, show off some nice fighting skills but comes off as a milquetoast bully. Down’s upbeat training montages want you to believe how fun it is to train to be a fighter so you too can beat some one up. As well, Faris’ Jake is the hero but his dumb choices throughout the movie make him difficult to sympathize with.

Never Back Down would play better as a TV movie on the ABC Family schedule, where it could eventually become a weekly series following the adventures of Jake and his pals. An updated Kung Fu but with much more energy. I don’t discount MMA’s art form, but ironically Never Back Down has a disclaimer that says the film “was not an accurate representation of Mixed Martial Arts.” Huh? Apparently, some of the fighting techniques have been altered to make the movie, uh, a little more entertaining.

Never Back Down should also have a disclaimer that reads “is not an accurate representation of quality moviemaking.” The movie’s predictable, heavily choreographed and exhausting climax will please those who enjoy watching this type of thing, and while I don’t deny these entertainingly guilty-pleasure moments, Never Back Down’s impact is all flash, no depth.

Never Back Down wants you to believe that it’s OK to smash someone’s head in as long as you have a reason, after all, according to the film, “everyone has their fight.” Chalk this up as another victory for the MTV crowd, who’ll show up in droves but for the rest of us, it’s truly a beatdown. Watch for the sequel next year, Never Back Down 2: Kicking Fools.

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