When I first saw the extended trailer for Warrior, the first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) movie made into a drama, I thought for the first 30 seconds how stupid the movie WAS going to be. As the trailer progressed, the film began looking more and more interesting. As the trailer ended, I kept waiting to see the “Based on a true story” line because if this wasn’t based on a true story, it looked like a more intense MMA version of Rocky. The trailer gives the entire story away. Two brothers who have grown distant end up facing each other in the championship fight of an MMA tournament. If there had ever been a more predictable trailer, I would be interested to know what that is. Then when I saw that the biggest name in the movie was Tom Hardy (The Drop, The Dark Knight Rises), I was 100% convinced that the film would be terrible and flop in the theater. I was wrong on all accounts.
Warrior was surprisingly excellent. Sure, the preview gave the story away. However, while I didn’t know how the final fight would play out, I knew that the first two hours (the movie clocks a cool 2:20 minutes, but it flies by. In fact, I wish it had been longer because there were a couple of loose ends that I would have liked to have seen tied up) would tell the story of what drove the two brothers apart and what their reasons were for entering the MMA tournament. Brendan (Joel Edgerton – The Gift, Loving) is the older of the two brothers, and though each brother’s story receives close to the same amount of screen time, it is clear Brendan is the protagonist, the main character of the movie.
Both brothers wrestled in high school and were professional fighters in their younger days, but have departed the scene for different reasons. Brendan got married, had a couple of daughters, and became a high school physics teacher because he didn’t want his wife Tess (Jennifer Morisson – most recognized for her role as Dr. Cameron on television’s House) to worry that he might be knocked unconscious or face a permanent disability. And while he does love his job teaching physics, the job doesn’t pay enough, and the family is facing a foreclosure on their house if they can’t come up with some quick money. Brendan goes to a makeshift MMA fight one night, one that is held in a parking lot next to a strip club. He defeats his opponent, but the match is brutal. Brendan returns home and, after showing Tess his battered face, is forced to come clean that he had been training for a potential comeback. Brendan is suspended from his job the next day after the principal and superintendent see his face.
Younger brother Tommy (Hardy) has returned home from Iraq, where he had served as a marine. We learn early that he is not mentally well. He combines alcohol with prescription drugs, and it is easy to see that he struggles through his days. Tommy asks Paddy to train him when he reconnects with his father, Paddy (Nick Nolte – Affliction, Lorenzo’s Oil). He clearly wants Paddy to be his trainer, not his father. So many emotional wounds in this family have not come close to healing. Paddy had been a raging alcoholic and let his sons down repeatedly, but he has been sober for 1000 days and is trying to right his wrongs and get his sons (each a little over 30 now) back.
The two brothers are distant. They had a falling out as teenagers, and each had gone their separate ways. Tommy trains at a local gym in Pittsburgh with his father while Brennan latches on with an old friend named Frank (Frank Grillo – The Grey, Edge of Darkness). Frank, once Brennan’s trainer, now owns his own gym. He reluctantly agrees to train Brennan again. After a few weeks/months of training, both brothers conveniently find themselves in the same 16-man, single-elimination, winner takes all tournament. With each fight, we learn more about each brother. And while we know the two will be forced to face each other, with each passing scene, we become more confused about who we should root for. That’s where this movie separates itself from other sports movies. In other sports movies, we have a hero (whether it be a team or an individual) and a villain. In Warrior, we have two heroes.
Without giving anything away regarding the tournament, there are a couple of problems with the movie. The first is Paddy. Nolte was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. His performance was convincing, but there was no conclusion to his part of the story. Perhaps there was at one point, but it had to be chopped out because the movie was already on the wrong side of two hours. I disliked very much how they left his character, both with how it related to himself and his two sons. Unfortunately, director Gavin O’Connor (Miracle, Pride and Glory) missed some of these opportunities.
Warrior is worth the watch. I’ve misjudged movies before based on their premise or their trailer. This was one I was very wrong about. I’m not a fan of MMA, but I didn’t need to be to appreciate this movie and like it. I also enjoy a good drama, and while there were certain scenes, particularly those scenes where the characters had to display a wide array of emotions, that were slightly below average at best (based upon the acting, the script, the dialog between the characters, etc.), for the most part, the movie was believable. Though he had that Disney theme going at times, I’ll go back to what I wrote above that separates this movie from the others. We are rooting for both characters in the championship match. It’s not a foregone conclusion about who will win the fight; the audience could be split on who they want to win.
See this movie.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 10/10 (great job here)
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 7.5/10 (tie some of those loose ends together, Gavin)
Cinematography 9/10 (definitely feels like we are at the actual matches)
Sound 9/10 (believe it or not, Beethoven is part of this film)
Hook and Reel 8.5/10 (starts slow)
Universal Relevance 9/10 (family conflict, financial troubles, addiction)
86.5%
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie
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- Southpaw
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