Many will simply see the trailer for Warrior and just saw “it’s a boxing movie… it’s not for me” but I’m sorry to say that those who think that way are just going to make themselves miss out on one of the grittiest films of the year. Like The Wrestler did for the sport of wrestling, Warrior takes the sport of mixed martial arts and puts a ‘human’ story into it… and the story at hand is one that will make you really feel for the characters involved.
Brendan (Joel Edgerton – The Thing, Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’hoole) and Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Inception) are brothers who simply don’t know each other. When it came time to leave their alcoholic, abusive father, Paddy (Nick Nolte – Zookeeper, Arthur) Brendan left with his now wife, Tess (Jennifer Morrison – Five, TV’S Once Upon A Time) while Tommy was left with his mother whom he had to look after she became sick. Now Brendan is desperate for cash, so he can save the family home, while Tommy wants money to help out a deceased friend’s window. Both brothers enter Sparta, a mixed martial arts tournament, and both are determined to win.
Director, Gavin O’Connor (Pride & Glory, The Prince) does a magnificent job making sure that the fight scenes never overshadow the deep personal stories at hand. You never really get the feeling that you are watching an action (or boxing) film when watching Warrior, instead you find yourselves wrapped up in the lives of Brendan and Tommy. As an audience member you find yourself barracking for one or the other and O’Connor is smart enough to know that. The really tense moments of the film revolve around the confrontations between Brendan, Tommy and Paddy rather than what happens in the ring… and thanks to a great screenplay those confrontations do have you on the edge of your seat. The only real mistake O’Connor makes is that times you lose sight of who is who in the ring… especially when it is Brendan vs. Tommy… this was increasingly frustrating for the audience.
For its acting performances Warrior deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as the word Oscars. Tom Hardy puts in an amazing performance in a challenging role while this is the film that will really put Joel Edgerton on the Hollywood radar. He is literally stunning in the role, he handles both the physical and dramatic parts of the film with ease, and he really shows all the producers out there that he is a jack-of-all-trades. However, even they are over-shadowed by Nick Nolte who should be writing his Oscar’s acceptance speech right now.
Warrior is a stunning film that will stick with its audience for a long time to come. With a brilliant screenplay and sensational performances from its leading men Warrior is one of the surprise hits of the year.
Year: 2011
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Stars: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison
Classification: M
Runtime: 140 mins
Rating: 
Out on DVD/Blu-Ray 24th Feb 2012