I'm not a big fan of sporting movies so honestly I didn't expect much and for all of you who don't know its based on cage fighting which involves mixed martial arts and is more brutal than boxing and wheel chair rugby (I'm not kidding wheel chair rugby is rough!)
This film is actually in my top 10 because its very special, the fighting was great but the story and characters became the highlight.
The film is based on 2 brothers who have become very separate, Tommy who is a US Marine and Brendan who is a physics teacher and a former UFC fighter. Both Brothers have become distant from their Father since the loss of their mother and the continuous drunken behaviour but he returns hoping to reconcile. Whilst both brothers suffer with a mixture of guilt and financial issues they both see an opportunity to turn things around, by entering the competition known as "SPARTA" where all the best fighters join and the winner takes home $5,000,000. Both Brothers begin to train for a life changing event but one thing is certain, there can only be one winner.
From just looking at the post or reading a short synopsis you can tell that these 2 brothers will end up fighting each other and its that slow build up which makes the film utterly brilliant, this slow tense atmosphere slowly progresses leaving us wondering "who will win?" and what's quite genius about it is that both characters are portrayed as decent yet troubled guys so its hard to say who you want to win and its this aspect which makes this film not only memorable but quite special.
We have Tommy who is very troubled from his service in the military and is on a mission to provide help to the family of a fallen comrade, what a nice guy!
then we have Brendan who is a family man with a wife and a 2 kids but he's having trouble paying for his daughters open heart surgery and is at risk of losing their house.
All ready you feel compelled to sympathise with both characters and its that bond we now share that makes it difficult to predict the final outcome because we do find out who is the better fighter but that just leads to a few surprises especially when Brendan faces Koba... the worlds deadliest fighter!
This film is so much more than fighting although the fighting is very good (more on that later) the main focus is the relationship between the father and sons which at some points is heartbreaking, the fact that their love is almost eradicated but its quite sweet to see it slowly rekindle.
obviously as a fighting film you will receive fighting, what's different about it is that it looks very real! The intensity and ferocity of each punch offers an exciting and thrilling ride! But we get 2 different types which is interesting, Tommy uses his anger and strength to break his enemies whereas Brendan uses strategy and timing so its really good to see such different tactics displayed and they really reflect the characters mood and situation which I thought was a very genius way to portray their characters.
The cast is just amazing, Tom Hardy is flawless and just "hench" but the interesting thing about his character is that he is a softy riddled with guilt but at the same time very violent, watch the way he fights! he channels his anger when he fights but out of the ring he is very compassionate towards his father in one particular scene and its a wonderful scene; heart warming and touching.
Joel Edgerton who portrays Tommy's brother, Brendan, gives us a really surprising character and I didn't expect him to be a science teacher... imagine your science teacher being a former UFC fighter, you wouldn't want to mess with them!
I believe Joels character was very much the centre of attention in this film mainly because he had such a normal life, he had a job, he has kids and a wife so to focus on them really brought out a lot of characteristics that made the character believable such as desperation. He left the life of fighting for his family but is forced back because of money issues and Joel does a really good job in portraying this character that is desperate but not willing to give up and its these contrasting brothers that create an interesting yet spectacular final fight. Credit must also go to Nick Nolte who is just brilliant in it, I honestly felt so sorry for him and frankly it doesn't work out for him in his quest for reconciliation (such a cool word!) but he does such a fantastic job of playing this recovering alcoholic and there are some very powerful scenes and I just wish it worked out for him more.
I give Warrior a 9/10 the story is amazing and so is the character development, the intensity of the fighting is unbelievable and creates a lot of anticipation as well as a sense of awe when Tommy enters the ring- its like watching Bane all over again.
I do recommend this even for those who aren't a fan of sport films, although fighting is the main objective in this film the more important and acknowledgeable aspect is the relationship between the two brothers who both indeed warriors in their own way.
Thanks for reading today!
May will be a complicated month so there will be less posts due to exams but I have got a few trips to the cinema planned, plus there's no way I'm missing out on Godzilla!
Until next time :)
No comments:
Post a Comment