Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown (2011)

So much average

hyped garbage

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

First thing this reviewer has to say is that in my other reviews I have been very clear that Jai White has taken a bum steer from Hollywood, he is a much better action figure than his CV would indicate.Therefore, when I notice that MJW has made the effort to turn the Beatdown franchise into a personal nestegg (this review written late in 2015, but I see there is a BEATDOWN 3 in the works) I cannot complain. Man's got to do what a man has got to do.The film itself is entertaining and that is no small compliment. What it lacks oddly is the sheer meanness that was visible in Beatdown 1. The original in the series was less about MMA than it was about the horror of being a kid having to deal with other kids. The MMA was secondary.Here the MMA takes center stage and if there was a template for this film it was NOT Beatdown 1 (name notwithstanding) but BEST OF THE BEST, which (if you review that film) had a bit of a Disney flavor to it.At the very end of this film, if you stick it out past the final fight (and many of you will not) there is a feel-good montage of the kind you usually see in afterschool specials.Again, the martial arts are not the only thing here that is "mixed." So are the themes.

Let me put it in this way:Bad acting - Horrible plot - And a lot of unnecessary sex and f*** words everywhereThe only thing that is worthy about this movie is Michael, he is an excellent fighter, he knows about MMA, his technique and pretty well mastered and well executed. If you are looking to watch good fights you are gonna find them in this movie, what I did was looked for the fight and skip all the three things that I mentioned before.The edition of the movie is well done, also the fight scenes are pretty cool, not fantasies just real stuff. If you know about martial arts you are going to noticed and enjoy the development of this matches.

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.

Seriously, gotta ask some of the reviewers if they even seen the movie because some look like they don't know what they're talking about and get stuff all mixed up or just make up things. Probably expected Undisputed 4 or some kind of movie with the quality of something like Lord of the Rings. Don't you just hate it when people do that?About the movie itself.. If you expect some kind of blockbuster that should've been in cinema and and definitely belongs in every DVD collection then you should just walk away from this one. But if you just wanna enjoy a movie and liked the first one and the trailer for this one then this is something for you.Inspite of what some people are saying here the acting for this movie was fine (nothing special, but good enough), the plot actually did make sense (and so did the fights) and there really was some character development (again, nothing great but it was enough for these kind of movies)I give this 8 out of 10 for delivering exactly what I was hoping for after watching the first movie and seeing the trailer for this.So if you liked the first movie and/or liked the trailer for this one and can enjoy a movie that's not some blockbuster thing, then go watch this.