| 75 |
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Formulaic and derivative, but sufficiently well made to work as both teen-angst melodrama and bone-rattling brawl picture.
|
| 70 |
The Hollywood Reporter
Stephen Farber
Although the movie set in the hot new arena of mixed martial arts is a bit short on star power, it's energetic and warm-hearted enough to become a word-of-mouth hit.
|
| 63 |
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
The movie is just a cheesy, preposterous, semi-eroticized way of yelling, "Fight! Fight!," when two people go at it in the school cafeteria.
|
| 60 |
Variety
John Anderson
Best part, though, is the cast: Everyone's a model, everyone beats each other half to death, and no one looks as if they've ever suffered so much as a coldsore.
|
| 60 |
Village Voice
Jim Ridley
A modest surprise: better acted than needed, better made than expected.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
It’s a little “Karate Kid,” a smidge of “Fight Club” (with none of the ironic ambivalence toward violence that David Fincher brought to that story), a lot of “The O.C.” (evil boy Gigandet played an evil boy on that series), and presto: probable hit.
|
| 50 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Director Jeff Wadlow and screenwriter Chris Hauty are so committed to following through on the "Karate Kid" formula that they don't care for novelty; it's enough for them just to hit their cues and play up the slo-mo MMA brutality. In the future, movies this derivative will be made by robots.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Reader
Andrea Gronvall
Jeff Wadlow directed this exploitation flick, which seems designed for students on spring break.
|
| 50 |
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
This movie isn't bad just because it follows a formula slavishly but because it does so without verve or passion.
|
| 50 |
Los Angeles Times
Jan Stuart
A disposable sports drama.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Ruthe Stein
A junior version of "Fight Club," only with no movie stars and different moves.
|
| 50 |
New York Daily News
Joe Neumaier
By the time ever-noble, ever-watchable Djimon Hounsou shows up to teach earnest young Jake honor and roundhouse kicks, the power-rock and smashmouth idiocy become like a fever dream, sweaty and hard to shake off.
|
| 50 |
Austin Chronicle
Steve Davis
Borrows from other movies almost shamelessly.
|
| 40 |
Film Threat
Felix Vasques Jr.
About as bland, predictable, and self-important as you’d expect.
|
| 40 |
Empire
Nick De Semlyen
"The Karate Kid" meets "Fight Club" but it's no way near as good as it sounds.
|
| 38 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Jason McBride
At times, the film is more fun than it deserves to be, and it's probably a lot more fun if you're a 13-year-old with an addiction to "Bully: Scholarship Edition."
|
| 30 |
The New York Times
Jeannette Catsoulis
The movie speeds up and slows down as though controlled by a director in the grip of competing medications. For those who make it to the final beatdown, however, the only pill worth taking is the one that makes you forget.
|
| 25 |
New York Post
Kyle Smith
A formula flick that should have tapped out in the script stage.
|
| 25 |
Entertainment Weekly
Gregory Kirschling
Movie is dopey. And with its emphasis on stupid violence, xylophone abs, and getting yourself on YouTube, it's yet another product that makes you feel bad about today's youth culture.
|
| 25 |
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Reprehensible.
|
| 25 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
While too bland and stupid to be offensive, Never Back Down spouts a hollow message of nonviolence while celebrating the brutal satisfaction of beating the crap out of someone.
|
| 20 |
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Sitting through this is groan-inducing enough, but it's spiritually depressing to watch Djimon Hounsou, who deserves better.
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