Warrior may be a film about MMA fighters, but more so it’s one about strength of will and the fragility of family ties and the human mind, a caliber of subject matter the genre rarely sees. The average MMA movies forego any actual storytelling in favor of pushing two fighters together and choreographing fights so only the most brutal hits arrive on the screen. They’re movies for people that like watching people kick the life out of other people. Warrior certainly has its fair share of that, and Gavin O’Connor has staged it brilliantly so as to actually elicit cringes as the audience acclimates to exactly what kind of movie Warrior is going to be, but not until the final act is that aspect of the film brought front and center. Up until then, it tells an emotionally charged story about abandonment and builds the drama with expert performances by Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte. If the final match-up was ever supposed to be a surprise, that was ruined by the trailers and even the box art, and yet, even knowing where the film is going, the acting, writing and direction manage to keep the viewer enthralled, all while helping them ignore some plotholes and character inconsistencies.
Estranged brothers Tommy Riordan (Hardy) and Brendan Conlon (Edgerton) both need the purse offered by a new MMA tournament seeking to determine the world’s absolute greatest fighter, but neither is in any condition to pursue it. Tommy has recently returned from his military duty overseas, offering few answers about what happened, and drops down on his father’s (Nolte) doorstep. With his mind damaged, he begins training under his father and quickly becomes a media sensation when a viral video of him devastating an opponent spreads across the world. Brendan, on the other hand, has been fighting occasionally on the side and doing his best to hide it from his wife (Jennifer Morrison), who’d much rather have him remain as a schoolteacher than return to his life as an MMA fighter. A set of unfortunate circumstances place their family in dire financial straits, and soon enough Brendan is back on the circuit. As the orbits of the two brothers begin to collide, family issues arise and the reasons for fighting take on a much more personal level.
Warrior has more than its fair share of emotionally devastating moments, and they’d be wasted were it not for the outstanding performances of Hardy, Edgerton, and Nolte. Taking us from the scarred psyche of Tommy to the weakly repaired life his father to the all-or-nothing mentality of Brendan, Warrior has about three rollercoasters running at any given moment. Hardy and Nolte have the two most painful scenes in the film, but overall Warrior is one of the most surprisingly powerful films of 2011. The dramatic barbs just seem to come out of nowhere, and when they land, they hurt. By the time the film’s climactic fight between brothers arrives, you can’t help but wonder if there’s a feel good ending to be had after all the sadness that it took to get there, and when the credits roll, it’s apparent just how dissatisfying such an ending would have been.
From a technical standpoint, the fight sequences are nothing short of jarring, but the devil is in the details. In order to keep the story moving at a quick pace, the film glosses over a lot of details that it’s hard to believe could really have gone unnoticed or makes assertions without pausing to hear any objections. The biggest issue comes in the form of the tournament’s supposedly top-billing lineup. Above all things the competition is designed to determine the best of the best, and yet Tommy, a no-name fighter with a YouTube video as his greatest claim to fame gets into the fight with seemingly no questions asked. Whereas his brother, a guy who has been working his way up the ranks with one fight after another, has to sneak his way in after an injury takes one of the intended competitors out of the running.
None of this is really addressed because at that point in the film the focus was entirely on getting to the final act, no matter what nonsense had to happen to get there. Those not swept up in the emotional furor of it all will find the omissions of logic confounding, but for most everyone these are afterthoughts. This is of course saying nothing of what would have been highly contested support for a Marine with Tommy’s specific history. The plotholes are there, but Warrior’s pacing makes it hard to care when you’re in the moment.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The combo pack has the film on Blu-ray, DVD, and as a digital copy. Featurettes cover production from the angles of the creation of the final fight, a behind-the-scenes piece, a tribute to Charles “Mask” Lewis, Jr., a deleted scene and an audio commentary. The real treat is the in-depth enhanced viewing version which integrates the best aspects of those featurettes into real-time as you watch the film, functioning as a highly detailed and immersive commentary. A gag reel rounds out the disc.
Tom Hardy playing an AWOL soldier whose sense of reality has shattered leaving him with no choice to cling to the pieces of his past that still seem vaguely right.
"Warrior" is on sale December 20, 2011 and is rated PG13. Action, Drama, Sports. Directed by Gavin OConnor. Written by Gavin O'Connor, Anthony Tambakis. Starring Jennifer Morrison, Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy.
