The Next Great Fight Movie For The New Fight Generation

Rating: 10/10 (4 March 2017)

Over the years, the sport of boxing has provided film-goers with undeniably great films like "Rocky", "The Champ", "Million Dollar Baby", and "The Fighter". In today's culture, though, boxing has been replaced by mixed martial arts as the fight game of choice. This is a movie that speaks to that culture.
For a basic plot summary, "Warrior" tells the story of two brothers. Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton) is a high school physics teacher moonlight as a UFC fighter in parking lots at night for the money. Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) is a former Marine and former high school wrestling champion. Their only two common interests? Hatred of their father Paddy (Nick Nolte), and the opportunity to win the biggest even in their sport of choice.
Simply put, "Warrior" is ever bit as good as "The Fighter" (in fact, both films share many of the same superb characteristics). This movie is a human drama first, with MMA fighting being the backdrop for the dramatic material. It is a visceral story that is not simple in any sense of the word. It is very dramatic, to be sure, yet it still maintains a very healthy grip on character relationships and thus stays as true to reality as possible. There are shades of grey in everything, with nothing being cut-and-dry.
For hardcore MMA fans, "Warrior" also offers some great fight scenes and action. When you are watching the fights, it seems as if you are truly watching a live UFC event.
Thus, "Warrior" is a top-notch drama that compares very favorably to the best fight films ever produced. It will truly make you care about the characters and be rooting for them (or even against them) in a variety of complex ways. It's "The Fighter"...only with triangle chokes and arm- bars.