Last night I saw Warrior with my lady, my brother and his lady, and our friend James. Warrior is the story of two brothers from a broken home who are battling personal demons, life struggles, and their past. They use MMA to try and solve their problems. Tom Hardy (Bronson, Inception) plays the younger brother who is a former Marine who just returned from war. Joel Edgerton plays his older brother, a teacher who is struggling to keep a house over his family’s head. The two brothers find out about an MMA tournament with a grand prize of $5,000,000 and decide to train to participate.

     As the movie develops we see into the personal conflicts each man is dealing with more and more. Tommy (Hardy) is haunted by his participation in the war in the Middle East, and Brendan (Edgerton) is having trouble taking care of his family after losing his job temporarily. And on top of that both men have issues with their father who was an abusive alcoholic, but is now a born-again Catholic. As their father (Nick Nolte) tries to rebuild their trust, and his family, the boys have trouble putting their love and faith back in the man who ruined their younger lives.

     The movie was really good. Tom Hardy is one of my favorite actors and he doesn’t really play the character I felt he was going to. He’s reeling from the action in the Middle East, and he has a dark aura because of it. He’s feeling angry, guilty, and he’s an asshole for most of the film. I’ve never seen Joel Edgerton in anything before but he played his part very well also. Brendan was the perfect balance to Tommy’s brooding angst with his kind heart. He loves his family, and wants to take care of them, and does so by fighting in parking lot MMA matches until he gets a shot in the big tournament. The only thing the brother’s share is a deep-rooted hatred for their father. Brendan’s a little more open to his father’s new choices while Tommy verbally abuses him any chance he gets.

The film was full of powerful moments. The fights were awesome. You feel every punch and cringe at every slam. The dialogue, cinematography, action, and story all come through and make you feel it. It’s a heartbreaking and heartwarming story in one.

If you like good movies then you should go see this.

Peace,
Zach