Old Genre / New Life

Rating: 9/10 (7 March 2013)

www.eattheblinds.com
The sports genre has become as much of a cliché as the many clichés it has spawned: Rocky's Theme, Eye of the Tiger, etc. At this stage of the game, breathing new life into this old genre and sucking in an audience while surprising them along the way, is next to a near impossible feat. Somehow, writer/director Gavin O'Connor has pulled it off with the MMA masterpiece Warrior.
Despite its complete checklist of boxing film / sports movie clichés, Warrior reaches so far beyond these clichés it practically redefines them. While respectful to reference (the original) Rocky, O'Connor legitimizes Warrior as a serious film, crafting it with visual and thematic nods to Michael Cimino's grand epic The Deer Hunter. Simply put, this isn't a sports film for meatheads (not that it won't please them), this is a sports film for audiences hungry for stark cinematic realism.
Burgeoning superstar Tom Hardy (once again) mesmerizes as the tortured lead Tommy Conlon, who -- along with Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton -- make up a three headed beast with lethal acting chops. For a film I expected to detest, Warrior proved itself to be as big of an underdog champion as the unorthodox heroes it portrays.