Stale Popcorn

There’s something about fight films. Ever since Rocky, the story of the underdog fighter has gripped audiences many times since in many different guises. But can a film based in the world of MMA fighting manage to capture that same magic?

Plot

Tommy returns home to ask his estranged father to help him train for Sparta, an upcoming MMA competition with a huge prize fund. He doesn’t want to repair the bridges with his dad, just to train.

Meanwhile, Tommy’s older brother, who he hasn’t seen since Tommy left with his mum years ago, who is also estranged from their father, is struggling to make ends meet for his family & is soon competing in fights in car parks to help rant some more money – but this does not go down well as in the daytime Brendan is a teacher, from which he is suspended. Now Brandon has no choice but to continue to fight – much to the displeasure of his wife.

A twist of fate gives Brendan entry into Sparta as well, & soon the brothers are heading towards the fight of their lives – but can they come out of it as a family?

Review

I’d been hearing really good things about Warrior, & I have to say that everything I’d heard was fully justified. This is a fantastic film, which takes its time getting to the fighting in Sparta to give us time to get to know Brendan, Tommy & their father.

Each of these characters are fully defined & well rounded, even the mysterious Tommy, who we only find out about slowly, is much more than just a one note character.

Tom Hardy proves once again what a great film actor he is going to be, easily capturing not only the physicality of Tommy but also the resentment & hurt he is obviously carrying towards his father – and he doesn’t shy away from showing us the pain inside either.

Likewise, Nick Nolte is excellent as the father who lost his boys once and sees this as his last chance to regain his family – and his journey, while less physical than the others doesn’t affect you any less. It is very easy to see why he has been nominated for his role in this film as he brings all of his craft to the film & truly is superb.

And then there is Joel Edgerton as Brendan. I feel like ive said “superb” quite a few times already in this review, but he really is superb as the ex-fighter turned teacher who has no choice but to return to the ring once more to safeguard his families future. It is Brendan that supplies us with the underdog side of the film, & it is his journey, both inside the ring & outside with his father & brother that captures the heart.

And it is this that works so well. I’ve mentioned in plenty of other reviews how films that want you to care about what happens to the characters fail in this regard, but I’m very happy to say that Warrior excels in this regard. It’s not just that it wants us to care, it makes us care what happens to the brothers, which is why the final scenes in the film are so effective & moving – and there is one moment right at the end that nearly had me in tears – amazing what can be accomplished with a simple tap on the arm!

My hat is off to director Gavin O’Connor who has approached this film with a real love for MMA & a desire to depict these characters in the best possible way – and he manages it fully. He also gives us some great fight scenes, with all the excitement & violence that fans of MMA would expect, and it is all captured on film in such a way that it feels “real”. A fantastic directorial effort.

If I had to pick fault with the film in anyway, then my one & only criticism would be the casting of TNA wrestler Kurt Angle as the Russian fighter Koba.

Thankfully they didn’t give him any lines or feature him too much, but it was just enough to throw me out of the film a little the first time he appeared onscreen.

But if that’s the only problem I had, it just shows how good the film actually is!

Closing Credits

I feel Warrior is an important film. Not only is a 21st century Rocky (complete with a training montage!) but it is also home to three very powerful performances. One, from a seasoned veteran like Nick Nolte which gained him an Oscar nomination & the other two are from two rising stars who, going by their performances here, are going to go very far.

Don’t just dismiss this as a sports film, or a fighting film, this is a family drama that captures the hurt, pain & love in a family that is broken but might find a way to fix itself. Sure, it features fighting, and excellently shot fighting at that, but the heart of this film is so much more it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible

Posted on Sunday, February 19th, 2012 at 8:07 pm under DVD Reviews (R2) by Gareth.

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