"Warrior" Review

ALERT: Some minor spoilers contained here, but nothing that the trailer doesn't already allude to.

WARRIOR

Combat sports have always been tailor-made for cinema since conflict is the necessary engine for drama. Put two guys in a ring. Have them fight. One wins, one loses. In that simple setup, you have enough conflict to fill a film. It's quick to establish and easy to understand. Boxing has proven to be box office gold using this formula with the "Rocky" films, "Raging Bull," "Cinderella Man" and numerous other titles that centered their stories on those who must literally fight to survive both in and out of the ring.

In recent years, the ring has been replaced by the cage as mixed-martial-arts in general and the Ultimate Fighting Championship in particular have invaded the public consciousness. MMA fighters are becoming stars for the first time and UFC events are drawing higher attendance and higher pay-per-view buy rates than at any other time in the sport's short history. (The first UFC was in 1993 in front of less than 3,000 people.)

Hollywood's recent attempts to capture the attention of MMA fans have been middling at best. "Never Back Down" was an MTV-style "Karate Kid" ripoff while other entries into the new "MMA movie" genre were direct-to-DVD schlock fests. The closest thing to a respectable MMA film thus far has been David Mamet's "Redbelt" but MMA was more of a setting than a focus for the noirish movie about a jiu-jitsu instructor, which also fell off the rails a bit in the final act when the dialogue stopped and the fighting started.

"Warrior", the new film from director Gavin O'Conner starring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte, looks to buck the trend by portraying the sport of mixed-martial-arts and the athletes that engage in it in a complex and respectful manner. Make no mistake about about it, "Warrior" is a fight film. It is a mixed-martial-arts fight film. But what separates it from others of its genre is that it works to be a great film first and have great fights second. As a director and co-writer, O'Conner understands that interesting characters are needed to make any fight compelling. Therefore, he focuses on the characters and their stories to such a degree that by the time they start coming into physical contact with each other, you care deeply about the outcome.

The film focuses its story on a broken family. Nick Nolte is Paddy, the reforming alcoholic father who is trying to atone for years of abuse with two sons who want nothing to do with him. Tommy (Tom Hardy) is a war veteran who is clearly battling personal demons of his own that are way more similar to his father's than he'd like to admit. Brendan (Joel Edgerton) is a physics teacher and family man who is simply trying to keep a roof over his wife and kids' heads in the midst of financial turmoil. Tommy and Brendan have issues of their own that aren't readily clear early on so it would be unfair to divulge them here. However, each of them turn to fighting as a way out of their personal misfortunes and then they find themselves in the same lucrative tournament with a "winner-take-all" $5,000,000 purse.

"Warrior" certainly relies on tried-and-true film formulas to get it from Point A to Point B but is also aware enough of those conventions to flip them here and there so you never get too comfortable with where the film is taking you. Issues like the recent financial crisis and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are used to fill in the main character's back stories and give them depth but it is a credit to the performances, writing and directing that these elements always feel genuine and never exploitative. When a banker (Noah Emmerich) explains how the terms of Brendan's home mortgage have changed and how they can't be readjusted, there is a genuine anger and sympathy that results because it feels real. Tommy's internal conflict stemming from the war also feels genuine and not simply a plot-device.

It's a tough line to walk when showcasing a sport so its fans are placated while also making a movie for a wider audience and "Warrior" exceeds all expectations in that regard. The film utilizes real MMA terminology and situations (like when Brendan competes in "smokers") without stopping to explain what they mean because the characters know what they mean and explaining it would make the movie feel unnatural. Audiences who don't know the sport don't need "smoker" explained to understand fully what's happening and why it's important so MMA fans will enjoy those little details while also not being overly catered to. (The audience doesn't need to know what an omoplata is to get that it's a bad idea to be trapped in one.) The use of MMA media personalities like Jon Anik and the Tapout crew also help make the events of the movie feel like they're happening in the real world. Koba, played by a silent and imposing Kurt Angle, is clearly based on Fedor Emelianenko while Mad Dog sports the look and basic fighting style of Chuck Liddell. Real fighters like Anthony Johnson and Nate Marquardt also spring up and make the fights feel authentic. The tournament itself, why it is set up and how it is funded are explained but not elaborated on so the film can justify how a major event exists that doesn't have the letters "UFC" attached to it. The UFC does exist in this film world and some of the film's humor is generated by the characters' wisecracks about the stereotypical UFC fan. Brendan had a brief run in the UFC per the film that is explained but never shown and his former trainer describes him as a ".500 fighter" in his heyday. This both gives Brendan legitimacy (he's not just coming into the sport off of his couch) while also maintaining his underdog likability. (His physics students get a real surprise once they realize their teacher is an ass-kicker. Or ass-kicked, as the case may be.)

The performances are all outstanding. Tom Hardy boils on the screen with an intensity and a torment that stays with the audience even when he isn't on camera. His scenes with Nolte in particular have a simmering tension that is palpable. Nolte is stellar here as a man who desperately wants redemption but is self-aware enough to know he probably doesn't deserve it. Right at the moment when you feel sorriest for Paddy, he reminds you why you shouldn't. It is a complex, lived-in and heart wrenching performance. Edgerton is the real star of the film and his character is the most fleshed-out since Hardy's is intended to be more mysterious by nature. He makes you feel Brendan's struggles as he's forced to decide what he will do to support his family and if blood money is worth collecting. Jennifer Morrison is in the "Adrian" role as Brendan's wife Tess and while her part in the story is somewhat formulaic, she plays it with warmth, compassion and worry. You feel for her when she stares at the phone and desperately waits for it to ring while Brendan's fighting since she can't bear to watch him.

Most fight films tell one story about one character. There's a hero to root for, a villain who is developed just enough to make him despicable, and then the standoff between the two at the end. "Warrior" tells parallel stories of two fighters and makes them both equally compelling for different reasons. It's no spoiler to say that the brothers do have a standoff against each other at some point. (The trailer itself makes that clear and I do think the trailer gives a bit too much away.) This is where the film shines. There is no real villain in this movie and the film is wise to avoid those types of conventions. (Angle's Koba is menacing and destructive but he's not a bad guy. He's just very, very good at what he does.) Brendan's a little more of a clear-cut protagonist with fewer "shades of grey" than Tommy or Paddy but the end-result is you want both brothers to succeed and you don't want either to get hurt. And that's the audience dilemma: You can't root for one without also rooting for the other's failure. One can't succeed without the demise (figuratively) of the other. Such is the life of two fighters.

There are some missed opportunities. Much is made of Paddy's ruthless training methods from when he'd trained Tommy as a youth but aside from one fantastic moment in a restaurant when Paddy first accepts his son's request to train him, you never see Paddy really preparing Tommy aside from a brief montage clip here or there. It feels more like Tommy is simply going alone while Paddy follows him around. Tommy's whole reason for having him there is to better himself athletically but you never see that come to fruition. The relationship with Brendan and his trainer Frank (Frank Grillo) fares better as you clearly see that Brendan would be nowhere as a fighter without Frank's influence and friendship. The fight scenes are exciting and well-shot but occasionally stretch belief. The film is wise to extend the tournament over two days to both A) divide up the punishment its main characters are enduring and B) allow for more dramatic moments to occur between fights. However, there are times when things happen that an athletic commission would NEVER allow in real competition and those moments in the movie both encourage MMA's false reputation as human cockfighting for those uninitiated and distract the MMA fans who will likely be thinking "Um, wouldn't the ref have stopped this ten minutes ago?" The movie is not gratuitously violent, but if a fighter cannot defend himself adequately, a fight will not continue in the real world. In the film world, they enjoy more leeway.

Many films set up difficult decisions for their lead characters only to balk at them at the end and I was expecting one of the brothers to suddenly have a change of heart on the course they had committed to. "Warrior" sets up a difficult quandary and actually makes the tough choices and commits to an ending. Two men enter. One wins. One loses. Such is the life of a fighter. For the audience, even if you're not a fight fan, it's a journey absolutely worth taking.

"Warrior" opens September 9th.

WARRIOR TRAILER: