‘Never Back Down’ - crap movie
In a nutshell: Angry over daddy’s tragic death teenager boy solves all his problems and gets the (American) dream girl by beating up another jerk – what a pile of crap 
The story: Jake Taylor finds his way to deal with his personal issues by training martial arts sports, keeping in mind his ultimate goal: taking revenge on another high school boy who humiliated him in front of a crowd. Big surprise, he manages to become really good, kicks the shit out of the bad ass, gets his ex-girlfriend and eventually the respect he is seeking for.
Flickcritique says: In my personal opinion if you are pubertal, twelve years old or younger or borderline retarded, maybe because mummy was heavily on crack, when she was pregnant with you and/or cause she dropped you a couple of times when you were a small baby, then you might consider watching this movie. Otherwise just forget about it. It is a mystery to me how a good actor like Djimon Honsu (remember him being brilliant in “Blood Diamond”?) could waste his time and talent on this, playing the part of the martial arts teacher Jean Roqua. My guess is this is the outcome of a lost bet or something like this. Oh, almost forgot to mention, the rest of the actors seem to be people randomly picked from the street, maybe hobby actors at their best.
Conclusion: Karate Kid meets Bloodsport
Watch it if you liked: The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid (1984), Bloodsport (1988)… dammit, you still reading! I guess you are really young and either of these titles rings a bell… ok, watch it if you liked The Fast and the Furious (2001) and/or xXx (2002) but keep in mind it’s not ‘that’ great 
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‘Funny Games U.S.’ – check short review
In a nutshell: The idyll of a summer house vacation is being brutally interrupted when two young sociopaths force a family into sadistic, lethal games.
The story: An upper class, perfectly happy family, mom Ann, dad George and an about twelve years young George junior (Georgie) just arrived at their beautiful, spacey summer house and are about to unpack when two youngsters, Paul and Peter, show up at their doorstep asking for a couple of eggs. A neighborly request turns quickly into an unpleasant conversation and eventually, the family faces the horror of being held hostage in their own house. Despite their regular and extreme violence rushes, both the tantalizers show perfect manners, along with a high sense of hygiene and order. They are remarkably dressed, all in white including their gloves. They keep on hurting their victims both, physically and even worse mentally in the course of a twelve hours bet over their life’s. It’s obvious that chances are little balanced in this game… I won’t tell more, since the ending is little Hollywood-stylish 
Flickcritique says: The beginning is lame and a bit too long for my taste. Once the story line gets started, the movie gets more exciting, too. Ann (Naomi Watts) does a great, great job playing her part of the aging but classy mom. So does Paul (Michael Pitt). He’s been a great psychopath in ‘Murder by Numbers’ before. And this time again he’s very convincing. The rest of the actors are average or worse. I was particularly disappointed by George (Tim Roth), who has done a great job playing in ’28 Weeks Later’. Or even a better one in Tarantino’s ‘Four Rooms’. But not this time.
What I liked about the movie is that you never get to see any actual, physical violence, though the tension does not suffer under this fact at all. Also, the idea of the Paul addressing to the audience, asking for their opinion is sort of refreshing. What I did not like is the disappointment of not being surprised by the movie at any moment. Every minute seems to be predictable Also, some reactions of the captives seem a little strange, e.g. as the parents face the ultimate horror they seem to be remarkable little emotional about it.
Conclusion: An okay-to-watch psychopath remake with a few flaws 
Watch it if you liked: The Shining (1980), Panic Room (2002), Murder by Numbers (2002)