Not the worse movie I've ever seen, but it didn't have enough action to hold my attention

Rating: Null/10 (12 September 2011)

Spoiler alert: this review will spoil not only Warrior, but possibly a few other movies. And off we go
I understand the irritation with Warrior trailers, really I do. The first time I had a real issue with spoiler trailers was with Just Like Heaven. Yeah yeah, chick flick and all, but the first trailers made it seem a little interesting. Who is this mysterious ghost woman? If you go to a lot of movies, later trailers reveal that she's in a coma somewhere. Seriously? That's amazing, now I can save a few bucks/hours. Corpse Bride followed the same annoying trend – mystery, less mystery, oh what they heck here's the whole movie. Warrior definitely lost an element of tension, but I didn't feel like it took too much away from the film.
Warrior follows the lives of two brothers (who end up fighting each other for the championship!) – one is an ex-Marine, appearing under mysterious circumstances and an absolute animal in the cage, while the 2nd was a mildly successful fighter turned teacher who has to go all the way to save his house, pride, and pretty Blond Doctor wife. Add gravely drunk Nick Nolte as the vaguely abusive father, and we've got our cast. The two are fighting for noble reasons, but in the end, only one brother may leave the championship that match that they are certainly going to fight against each other. Did I mention – THEY'RE BROTHERS!?
I wanted to see this movie for two reasons only: Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy. Edgerton is part of the award-winning Blue Tongue Film collective and Tom Hardy is kind of insane but a fun actor. The problems started early with Tommy's (Tom Hardy) brooding homecoming with his father. This first and very emotional scene could have been a great start to an action/drama, but it had an awkward vagueness that plagued every scene throughout the film. Tommy's father did something, but they don't come out and say it. His brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton) uses the same language – "Yeah, phone or letter – after that THING you did." What thing? What did he do? Tommy and Brendan finally meet/argue/hash in an amazing chance meeting on the Atlantic City beaches before their big fight and they too argue about that plan that Brendan didn't follow through on WHAT PLAN? I've got to imagine it's as ridiculous to watch two people argue about as it would by to attempt that kind of thing in real life. I think I'll pick a fight with my wife about something I didn't like, but never actually come out and say it. I might be The Sad Man tomorrow, but it could be fun.
There were a host of other problems with this film – pacing, edits, the entire believability of any actions, the premise that anybody can lose their house these days after a few late payments – but there was one redeeming aspect – THE FIGHTING. I'm not an MMA fan, but I do like well shot action. Every moment in the ring was intense, chaotic, and made you feel every massive hit. The sound design reinforced the brutal beat downs that Tommy administered and Brendan received. I've had the chance to sit 2nd row at an MMA event, and even that close, it's just a bunch of slappy-sounding hits and grunting. Warrior gave us what we really wanted – bone-crushing hits, flips, tosses, and general mayhem in the ring. The intense, sweat and emotion laden choke-out at the end of the championship match could have been the most amazing moment in cinema history given all the great action, but I had laughed at the drama far too many times take it seriously at that point.
What went wrong? I think Warrior had the several writer problem like Cowboys & Aliens. Too many writers, too many plot lines vying for attention. My good friend Ryan pointed out that the story should have been told from one character's point of view. It never had a focus and tried to cover too many perspectives at a time. Lose the 90′s high school kids, lose the wife with no convictions, cut some of the drawn out scenes, and you might have a movie.
While not the worse movie I've ever seen, it didn't have enough action to hold my attention for the nearly two and a half hour runtime.