One of the best films of the year!

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2012)

Now, you may be asking yourself why I declared this to be one of the best films of the year, but gave it a nine out of ten. Not to worry. I do not give out many tens. I reserve those for movies that I deem to be some of the best movies of all time. Nevertheless, upon hearing about this film, I was worried that it would simply be a low-quality rehashing of "The Fighter". When I finally saw this film, I was pleasantly surprised and extremely impressed with everything that they had done. "Warrior" is not just another sports movie that portrays an individual or a team overcoming great odds and finally reaching victory on a high level. This story has multiple layers and satisfies on multiple levels.
This is a story about three characters, two of whom are MMA fighters and one of whom is their father. It portrays how a fighting championship called Sparta brings a family together after they have become strangers to each other. The two sons, Tommy and Brendan Conlon, feel they have been neglected by their father, Paddy, for their entire lives, due to his drinking problem, while the brothers have become distant as Brendan has started a family while Tommy joined the Marines. Tommy feels that Brendan betrayed him by not joining the Marines with him, while Brendan is disappointed that when distancing himself, Tommy also distanced their mother from him. On top of this, Tommy is fighting to earn money for the family of a fallen comrade, while Brendan is trying to earn money for his wife and children so that they don't have to face foreclosure. All of this comes together seamlessly to build one of the greatest sports films ever made.
Much of the poetic beauty of this film comes together in how the brothers Brendan and Tommy are portrayed as perfect foils of each other. Brendan plays the guy who is settled down and mature, while Tommy plays the rogue Bad Boy who likes to break all the rules and goes against the grain. The makers of this film make this theme play out on several different levels, from the way in which the brothers walk, talk and behave, to the style in which they train and fight. They even go as far as having Joel Edgerton, who plays Brendan, wear white shorts during his fights, and having Tom Hardy, who plays Tommy, wear black shorts. The way in which all of this came together reminded me very much of how, in "Black Swan", the characters Nina and Lily, where perfect foils of each other. I must say that, in this respect, this was done just as well.
The other point I enjoyed about this movie is that the audience doesn't know how this story is going to end like in just about every other sports movie. When you began watching "Remember the Titans", you knew that the movie could only end with the Titans winning the state championship. In "Coach Carter", the Oilers failed to win the championship, and while the film makers tried their best to make the best out of it while still opting out of the standard sports movie ending, it still ended up being disappointing. The makers of this film eliminated that problem by focusing on two competitors instead of one. At no point during the film did we know which one of the brothers was going to win the final fight, which made it all the more thrilling.
My only gripe about this film is a rather small one and does little damage to the film's overall quality. In the beginning of the film, we are lead to believe that the two brothers were once excellent fighters, but have not stepped inside the cage in a very long time. I found it a little difficult to believe that they could become top MMA fighters after only a few months of training. That is really my only criticism for this film, but it really doesn't take away from the rest of the story.
My bottom line is: You must definitely see this movie. I loved it even though my interest in MMA fighting is minimal. After some time, I will probably watch it again, and I will probably enjoy it. This movie definitely earns all the praise it gets.