Warrior – Review

Warrior

Starring: Tom Hardy,Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison and Nick Nolte

Directed by: Gavin O”Connor

Marine Tommy Conlon haunted by his past, enlists the help of his former alcoholic father Paddy(Nick Nolte) to train him for Sparta a high profile MMA tournament with a huge purse meanwhile Tommy’s brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton) a physics teacher struggling to pay the mortgage enters Sparta as a last resort in hopes to save his home from foreclosure.

Warrior is extremely entertaining with a powerful cast. Tom Hardy proves why he is on a rocket ship to superstardom with brooding menace and a tremendous physique the dude is definitely BLAF (built like a fighter). Joel Edgerton another rising star delivers a solid performance as family man Brendan (Joel looks like a ripped version of Conan O’Brien) Nick Nolte delivers a performance worthy of best supporting actor consideration as Paddy, the one time drunk and abusive father who in the midst of his lonely existence has cleaned up his act and desperately wants his family to forgive him and give him a second chance. Nolte reminds the audience how talented he truly is as he tries to open up emotionally to his boys.

Where warrior succeeds is in its ability to capture the essence of MMA while giving you two protagonists to root for knowing that by the end you will have to choose a side. On one hand you have the tough kid with the troubled background who fled an abusive father with his mom, became a war hero and struggles with his internal demons on the other hand you have a family man and teacher trying to keep a roof over his families head. Both fighters have their own style Tommy is all raw power while Brendan relies more on the ground and submission game. It helps to add to the atmosphere that there are cameos of real MMA fighters throughout the film as well as the utilization of pro fighters as participants in Sparta, seeing Anthony “Rumble” Johnson or Nate “The Great” Marquardt square off, Lends a credibility that seeing another actor just can’t provide.

MMA is a growing sport still trying to gain mainstream acceptance ( I am talking to you New York, sanction it already) as such there has yet to be a film set in this world that is composed of any form of substance or even worth watching. That said, aside from a few minor qualms such as the outrageous prize money (5 million dollar MMA tournament) an annoying corner man constantly screaming Beethoven rather than yelling useful instruction, and a former US Olympic hero turned pro wrestling star (Kurt Angle doing a poor Fedor Emelianenko impersonation) as the vaunted Koba. Warrior gets it right more often than not.

Warrior is a strong film that takes its subject matter seriously and treats the sport with respect. An outstanding cast with top notch performances across the board, Warrior will go down in history as the Rocky of MMA.

Grade-93

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