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| “ | I came here to thank you, for turning me into the beast that I am today. ... Happy birthday to me! | „ |
| ~ Justin Epstein to the gang member before he savagely beats him with a steel baton. |
Justin Epstein is the main antagonist of the 2011 MMA film Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown.
He is played by Scott Epstein.
Role[]
At the start of the movie, Justin is a shy and weak comic book store clerk. One day while walking home, he is attacked and stabbed by a local gang. However, he is saved by Tim and his sensei Case Walker who are training in mixed martial arts in a vacant lot. They soon start training Justin as a fighter to compete in "The Beatdown", an underground fighting tournament. After a few weeks in training, Justin is a new man, shaving his head and getting more and more violent and sociopathic as time goes on. After picking a fight with Mike Stokes (the film's hero), Justin defeats him easily.
Soon after this, Justin runs into the thugs who hurt and cut him. He provokes them into attacking him again, and ends up easily defeating them with his martial arts. He beats one so severely he is spattered with blood, and it is possible the man died of his injuries. Justin goes to Case to brag and thank him for teaching him how to fight, but Case is horrified at how much of a violent sociopath he has become, and kicks him out. Enraged, Justin plants a handgun he stole from his father in Case's home so he will go back to prison. Fortunately, Case is cleared on all charges after Max Cooperman videotapes the encounter, proving that the cops performed an illegal search, and the police also determine that only Justin's fingerprints were on the weapon, thus proving his innocence.
After finding out what happened, the rest of the group decides to to band together and take on Justin at The Beatdown to avenge their mentor. Mike defeats Zack, while Justin cracks Tim's knee in in the restroom with a collapsible baton he took off one of the gang members - thus eliminating him from the tournament. In the tournament finals, Mike engages Justin in a grueling fight until he wins by breaking Justin's right shoulder via an Omoplata submission hold. Justin attempts to retaliate by jumping Mike from behind, but Mike counters with a superman punch to the face, defeating him for good.
Personality[]
Justin was a ruthless and brutal sociopath. He was not always this way, as he was once a meek and shy young man who just wanted a fair shake. However, once he got a taste of power he decided that he could use violence to demand respect from people who had denied it from him his entire life. Once he began training in MMA, he began neglecting his duties at the store and radically changed his appearance by shaving his head and getting a number of tattoos, including a large one on his back.
Signs of his sociopathy were apparent even early on in the film. At first he only hurled insults at anyone who was around, but eventually went out looking for fights and bragging when he won, which disturbed his sensei. However, his behavior would drastically worsen in a short period of time. One of the biggest early signs of his sociopathy came when he was insulted by a newcomer to the gym, Zack, and attempted to use a pipe on the ground as a weapon after the two began fighting. Fortunately he was stopped by Tim before he could maim or possibly kill Zack with the weapon. Justin was also willing to cheat by fighting dirty in and off the ring at The Beatdown. Because of this, the audience hated him and even booed him.
Justin also exhibited borderline traits, namely his unhealthy obsession with his sensei, Case, even having a photo of him on his bathroom mirror. The most notable example of Justin's idealization of Case was when Mike got into a sparring match with Case to impress Zack's girlfriend, Eve. Mike was too proud to tap out, thus being the only person to finish a fight with Case. This display of ego enraged Justin, as this was Case's first technical loss in a fight. This resulted in Justin becoming enemies with Mike, and Justin began going out of his way to pick fights with Mike specifically. After he was finally kicked out of Case's dojo for his brutal behavior, his idealization of Case became devaluation and he swore at Case, ranting about how he was the only one who did not cheer when Mike broke his record of wins. Justin swirled deeper into his hatred and tried to send Case back to prison.
Trivia[]
- Justin shares several similarities to Hawk from Cobra Kai. Both were outcasts and geeks who were frequently targets of bullying, both radically changed their appearance (namely with a new hairstyle and back tattoo) and learned martial arts, both developed sadistic/sociopathic traits and began being aggressive and violent towards others, both betrayed their sensei, both broke the limb of a friend and both competed in tournaments. However, unlike Hawk, Justin was not redeemed.
- Justin's actor, Scottie Epstein, is one of many stars of the film that was a real life MMA fighter, and he was also one of two fight coreographers on the film. Scottie Epstein has a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and was trained by Eddie Bravo. He fought in a string of four mixed martial arts matches from 2004 to 2007, with no losses. He now trains fighters for a living.
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 Villains
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Never Back Down The Beatdown No Surrender Revolt | ||