Never Back Down

this is the crossroad between real steel and fight club and thats fucking beautiful man the characters were arguably the best part about this movie, take whatever mid to late 2000s show and pluck out the best stereotypes and put them in this movie : - bubbly chick everyone wants? SCORE! - hotheaded guy who wants to do good? CHECK! - chatty dweeby best friend w/ a camera? YES! - sadistic big bad who is arguably cool as hell? DING! the soundtrack was fucking immaculate, no notes, the acting was decent (i have a grudge against blake lively idk why cant get myself to like her but she was alright in this), and honestly the aesthetics were all super enjoyable overall. however, i will say the whole "guys fight over girl" trope in 2000s movies - this one being literal, is so tiring because this female character is nothing outside of the orbit of these two men and how BORING is that. i think the funniest thing abt this movie is that ryan made jake fight in jeans. low rise jeans, in fact, and that v-line was fucking insane. best part of this movie.