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Warrior might very well be my favorite sports movies of all time. That's not a statement I would just throw out there either; being an avid "movie lover" I naturally have my share of favorite films, but more specifically, I also have my share of favorite sports movies. Brian's Song (man tears), Field of Dreams (Costner) , Remember The Titans, Miracle, and Chariots of Fire are just a handful of classics representing their genre well. Each of these movies does an excellent job of not only depicting the sport they revolve around, but they also capture the heart of the story behind it. In this sense, Warrior is no different.
Warrior, as far as sports go, focuses chiefly on Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and would be placed under the sports movie sub-category of a fighting sports film. Getting even more specific, when I think of movies like this the ones that come to the forefront of my mind include The Fighter, The Wrestler, Raging Bull, and of course, Rocky (I'm talking primarily of Rocky I through Rocky IV). As bold as it may be, I'm willing to submit that Warrior is better than all of them.
Now before I go any further let me make it perfectly clear that out of all the sports out there, MMA is one of them that I know next to nothing about. If you asked me to name even one legitimate MMA fighter I would shake my head in ignorance (or at the very least shift the attention to the WWE where I could at least discuss the time Hulk Hogan "wrestled" Andre the Giant). All that to say, you should definitely be able to enjoy this movie without a thorough appreciation for the mixed martial arts. Chances are you'll be so immersed in the characters and the story that before you know it, you'll be as invested in those fights as they are.
And speaking of the characters and the story, the two go hand in hand in Warrior; the movie was done in such a marvelous (and quite frankly, all too rare) way that the characters truly are the heart of the movie. I was completely invested in these characters, they were the story, and they were the reason I was so completely invested in every scene. I can't speak highly enough of the acting in this movie. Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton (dude's got a sweet first name btw), and Nick Nolte all absolutely killed their roles (I mean that in the best way possible).
From the way their characters interacted with each other to the dialogue, everything felt completely real. The supporting characters were pretty great themselves. I loved Frank Grillo in this movie, his character was one of those people I thought to myself: "I'd like to meet that guy in real life, he seems like a cool guy." Brendan's wife was great, I liked all the kids at the school, the principal, I liked the announcers, Noah Emmerich shows up at one point, he was great for the bit he was on screen. Anyway, the point is, everybody in this movie was great.
I found myself debating whether I liked Joel Edgerton's or Tom Hardy's character better during the course of the film until I realized I wasn't going to be able to side with either one of them because I admired both of their characters for different reasons. This is one of the reasons I would argue this movie reigns supreme among most others of it's kind: you're not following one character's journey, you're following two, and you're fully invested in both.
Going into this movie originally I wasn't sure what to expect, but Gavin O' Connor knew what he was doing and this movie pleasantly surprised me and has quickly become one of my all time favorites. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. I can't stress how ridiculously devoted I was to this movie, the way the plot was uncovered, unraveled, and executed was beautiful. By the end, I just sat there for a little bit reflecting on it all. And I'm not gonna lie, there was a couple of times I was feeling a few (fully justified) man tears coming on before the credits rolled.
I hesitate to say much more about the movie in fear of spoiling any personal experience for you in case you haven't yet seen it. And in the event that you haven't yet seen it, if nothing else I hope this little review/thought-rant has encouraged you to go check it out (because trust me, it's worth checking out).
My Rating: 10/10
Captivation Percentage: 100% (I was engaged from start to finish)
Bottom Line? Warrior has quickly become one of my favorite movies. If you haven't seen it yet, you should probably go do yourself a favor and watch it. I have a feeling you'll love it (unless you and I just have completely different tastes in movies, in that case, don't worry about it).
Thanks for reading!
Happy Sunday and God Bless! :)
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