I’ve heard some radio ads for Warrior that say “It’s like all the Rocky’s rolled into one”. Now, If one cast’s their mind back to Mr.Balboa, one may recall that not all the Rocky’s were amazing. But let’s not dwell on a radio ad..shall we?
Even as I start this review, I still have pretty mixed views about Warrior. Essentially it’s the story of 2 brothers (Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton) who haven’t seen each other for years, due to their father (Nick Nolte) being a wife beating alcoholic. One turns up on his fathers doorstep after 13 years of an absence (which included a tour of the middle east) and the other one is a former UFC fighter, turned maths teacher. They eventually, through gyms and strip club MMA events, end up in a huge MMA event, called Sparta. The prize, 5 Million big ones. Tommy promises to give the money to one of his deceased friends wife and Joel needs it to clear the mortgage. They arrive in Atlantic City for the big MMA even with Tommy being trained by his Dad, who really has his hands full as his 2 sons have a great disliking for him, and each other. Predictably both manage to make their way through the competition and face each other in the final. Who’ll win? Will they be brothers again? Will Nick Nolte’s character growl any louder?
I’ll start with the performances. Tom Hardy (who’s also going to play Bane in The Dark Knight Rises) and Joel Edgerton really play a blinder here. Even their physical attributes alone say that both these actors had to work their backsides off to achieve the look required for Warrior. And their performance itself is rather engaging, although it is tough to make a connection with them. In particular Edgerton, who shifts emotions quite a number of times and is really convincing. Who’s not so convincing though is Nick Nolte. I don’t know whether he ate nothing but buckets of chicken gravy for 6 months for the role, or has actually aged not so gracefully. Regardless, his performance is forced, contrived and that bloody cap he wears continuously is comical, and not in a good sense. He just seems to try too hard, granted there is one decent piece of acting from him towards the final quarter, but excluding that it’s not a great performance. I got a whiff of desperation for some awards.
The actual movie itself is quite long at 140 minutes. That wouldn’t be such a bad thing if it featured a number of decent fight scenes or anything to keep you a bit more engaged. Alas, the majority of the fighting comes at the end of the movie (which to be fair is intense and exhilarating). The rest of it revolves around long, drawn out dialogue and people playing dysfunctional families. I reckon at least a good 20 minutes could be shaved off the thing.
But, when the finale kicks off, it saves the entire movie. And when the brothers eventually face off I was entirely caught up in the whole thing. I had forgotten about the past 100 odd minutes of boredom. As a matter of fact, I felt myself well up and I almost shed a tear. Warrior is quite a slow movie, but when it gets going in the final quarter, it packs a huge punch. Granted, it’s not a knockout or anything, but it’s enough to win on points.
