Underwhelming fighting drama

Rating: 5/10 (8 December 2013)

This isn't a great film at all. The problem is that the guy who wrote and directed it, Gavin O'Connor, doesn't really have much idea of how to craft a screenplay and his final effort is unpolished; it's overlong and the pacing is off. The first hour has tons of underwhelming character drama while the last hour has too many similar-looking fights crammed into the narrative. Both elements needed to be more mixed throughout.
Of course, it doesn't help that the similar THE FIGHTER came out around the same time, and was much better for it. That film was based on a true story, had more pathos and a great turn from Christian Bale to fix it. This one features Tom Hardy in full-on thug mode and the unknown Joel Edgerton, who was equally forgettable in THE THING remake. Nick Nolte is good value, yes, but only to see how his lifestyle's aged him. Neither Hardy nor Edgerton are sympathetic and I was quite uninterested in the developing storyline.
This is not to say that WARRIOR is a bad film. There are a lot worse, and as a sports-fighting movie it's fairly realistic. It also builds to a decent climax, featuring a ferocious bout and an unexpectedly moving finale, it's just a shame it took so long to get there. The fights are as brutal as you can get for a PG-13 film and don't disappoint, but then I didn't expect them to. This is not a film I'd come back to, however.