- Director: Kellie Madison
- Actors : Olivia Popica, Michael Bisping, Brooke Johnston, James Faulkner
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Media Format : Blu-ray, Digital_copy, Subtitled
- Run time : 1 hour and 29 minutes
- Release date : November 16, 2021
- Subtitles: : French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, English, Korean
- Studio : Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Number of discs : 1
The Never Back Down franchise loosely
connected its first two sequels by bringing back supporting characters from the
original 2008 film, but Never Back Down: Revolt is a sequel in name
only. Aside from the film involving an underground fight ring, there is no
connection to the other installments in the franchise. Although the latest sequel
feels as though it has been updated to consider the current cultural climate, having
a female fight club at the center of the storyline is not enough to prevent the
formula from feeling stale and predictable.
When struggling MMA
fighter Aslan (Tommy Bastow) refuses to throw a fight for a crooked promoter,
Julian (James Faulkner), he finds himself in debt. In order to pay off this
debt, Aslan’s sister Anya (Olivia Popica) agrees to fight on his behalf. After a
local fight fails to make a big enough impact on the debt, Anya takes a fight
in Rome, where her brother cannot protect her. Upon arrival, Anya is imprisoned
by another evil fight promoter named Janek (Michael Bisping), forced to compete
against other women in a similar situation with a threat of prostitution if
they don’t comply.
Even ignoring
the fact that this is the same premise used for the 2013 film, Raze, Never
Back Down: Revolt is disappointing. Despite a set-up that allows opportunity
for multiple fights, there is more action in the sub-plot of Aslan seeking
answers about Anya’s disappearance than in the actual fight ring. Although we
are told a lot about the fights held for an elite audience, more time is spent
with the fighters in their imprisoned state between matches. This leads to an
inevitable revolt (as the title suggests), and some extremely staged fight moments
serving as the climax.
I call them fight
‘moments’ because it rarely feels like continuous choreography. Instead, it
feels like a collection of brief moments that contain one or two moves. There
is rarely any indication of a continuous flow of action, even within some of
the fights in the ring. While I applaud the attempt at a female-driven entry
into the franchise, the execution fails to make the concept work. The
screenplay seems more interested in the drama of the fighter’s victimhood than
creating opportunities for action. The cast does their best to make the material
believable, but mostly come off as stiff. And even though this may be because
they were hired for fighting abilities rather than acting, the fight scenes don’t
do much to display these abilities.
The Blu-ray
release for Never Back Down: Revolt comes with a digital copy of the
film. Honestly, this may be the recommended way of watching this film. Just use
the digital code to watch the film on your phone at the gym, and maybe the inconsistencies
in the filmmaking will be less apparent. There are no additional special
features on the disc.
Entertainment Value:
3.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 3/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
Special Features: 1/10
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