I planned to make some Ultimate Warrior jokes for this review. If for no other reason that the title is Warrior, the guy says insane things, and Kurt Angle (a pro wrestler) is in the movie. But I have too much to say so I'll just have to skip it. Ok. One joke. THIS MOVIE HAS DESTRUCITY HULK HOGAN!
Ok. I have to explain where I'm coming from in this review. Because if not, then I'm just going to get comments about how I don't like anything. And unfortunately I do need to get into spoilers in order to explain myself, so if you haven't seen the movie, here's my short review: It's good but VERY predictable.
SPOILERS
Here's the first problem. Warrior has two competing plots and a lot of subplots. One is the story of this messed up family trying to fit itself back together and the other is the MMA tournament. The movie chooses to focus on the family drama. And it should. There's some great performances by Nick Nolte (Paddy Conlin), Joel Edgerton (Brendon Conlin) and Tom Hardy (Tommy Conlin). The problem is that the tournament becomes secondary. We already know who wins. We know the brothers are going to meet in the finals. That's how movies like this play out. So, all the drama of the other matches drops nearly to zero.
One of the subplots of the movie is between Tommy and another fighter named Mad Dog (Erik Apple). Tommy gets into this high stakes tournament by knocking Mad Dog out in his own gym. This builds a grudge match between the two. They meet in the second round... and Tommy knocks him out with one punch. So much for that waste of time. I'm being unfair. Tommy knocked out all his opponents in about one punch. This of course to establish two things: 1) he's a dangerous fighter and 2) he's our anti-hero. More on the anti-hero stuff later.
Another subplot involved a Russian fighter named Koba (Kurt Angle). Again this plays into what I said before. These matches are pointless. They are used only to establish character. This time with Brendan that he's tenacious and willing to sacrifice his body. It does that well but it subtracts from the action I'm watching. Instead of being sucked into the fight, I'm waiting for the movie to catch up.
Subplot #3 is that Tommy is an ex-marine. He went AWOL when his platoon was killed by friendly fire. While AWOL he rescued another soldier from drowning in a tank. This makes him both a wanted man and a war hero. He wants the prize money to give to his friend's widow.
Subplot #4 the economy sucks and Brendon is about to lose his house to the bank. He needs the money so his family can have a better life. He all but lost his job as a physics teacher because he was having pickup fights for extra money. His wife Adrian... I mean Tess (Jennifer Morrison) isn't pleased because the last time he had a fight, he ended up in the hospital.
All of this is happening while the brothers are trying to get back in touch with each other. Tommy is too haunted by the past, Brendon is too concerned with the present and the father is trying his hardest to forget the past, be in the present, and build a better future.
The second problem is from a technical standpoint. I HATE SHAKING CAMERAS! I get why they did that. The actors can't fight. They taught them a few moves to do in the movie but overall they are not trained fighters. Going close-up, zooming in and out, and shaking the camera like it owes you money does give the feeling of impact. The sound effects help too. But when I did get a clear view of what's happening, the moves were done with little to know impact. Nobody was selling the hits very well. They needed actors with actual mixed martial arts experience.
The final problem I had was the ending. I hated the ending. They dragged it out so they could play the sappy music, have Brendon say he loves his brother, make Tommy tap out, and see the father cry. The final match went 5 rounds but Brendon won it in the 3rd. How did he win a match that stretched out 5 rounds when he won it in the 3rd? HE BROKE TOMMY'S ARM!!! Okay. "Dislocated his shoulder." Whatever. He had the guy in a hammerlock and pulled back until it snapped. For the next 2 rounds Tommy had only one usable arm. And it went about as well as you would expect. HERE'S THE PROBLEM! We know Brendon was going to win. He's the virtuous brother. He's even wearing white trunks just to spell it out for everyone. Tommy is in black. He's the anti-hero. He's the gritty guy with a troubled past. He's the guy we sympathize with but still hate. But Brendon already won the fight! It's called doctor stoppage! I've seen fights end because the fighter was bleeding too badly. Imagine what they would do with a guy having a very noticably bad arm? They end the fight! He can't continue! Fight's over! Tommy loses! Instead Brendon's trainer tells him not to call it off. Why? Your guy won! It's because we had to have the contrived, sappy ending. Brothers hugging it out and old father crying.
I liked the movie but there was too much going on, the movie was predictable, and the fights were really underwhelming. If you like MMA, this isn't your movie. However, the acting is wonderful, the drama is moving, and the characters are fleshed out and memorable. It's worth watching as a great drama.
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