While Predictable And Not Wholly Original, This Poignant Film About Two Brothers Is A Total Knockout

Rating: 8/10 (14 January 2017)

This Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton film about two brothers fighting in a Mixed Martial Arts competition is so much better then I went in expecting. Filled with heart and passion, what could have been another wrestling/boxing/sports movie was elevated by the fact that it was brilliantly acted and directed.
Warrior is a pretty standard and straight forward story, and may be let down a bit by its predictability, but it overcomes these issues because it is so much better overall then many of its similar cousins out there. The performances by Hardy, Edgerton and Nick Nolte are astonishing, and drive Warriors to being a great film instead of just a good one. The direction is inspired and the cinematography truly captures the atmosphere and violence of the sport the main characters are taking part in.
Occasionally, Warriors uses clichés, but again, these are thrashed by the heart and emotional story that they're used in. The screenplay is where the film struggles most, but it is almost always entertaining so it can be easily ignored.
Warriors could have been just another Rocky clone, but instead it goes above and beyond expectations by focusing more on the characters instead of the sport the film revolves around, something many Rocky clones don't understand. Warriors is much better then expected.
4 / 5