Wednesday, 31 October 2012

DVD review: Warrior


Two estranged brothers compete in a MMATournament.

MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, has been on the rise lately. More spectacular than boxing, which very few people properly understand anyway, also more violent than boxing, at least in how it is perceived, MMA was just waiting for somebody to come and do a movie about it.
Warrior is a Rocky style movie where instead of following just one individual we follow two. This may sound banal but in reality is something akin to a Copernican revolution for the genre because it creates a degree of uncertainty normally absent from this kind of fares.
The two “Heroes” couldn’t be more different. One is played by Tom Hardy in physically perfect form. He is a gifted actor but here he got a very steep obstacle to overcome. His character is so unsympathetic, so merciless, that even when we know what actually shaped him it is very difficult to relate. Some sparks of humanity are sorely missing.
Joel Edgerton is a less unusual hero. A relatable family man who always tries to do the right thing.
Here lies the main problem of the movie, instead of two equally relatable characters we got a decent person going against an adversary defined only by anger and fury.
But then we got to the tournament and it’s really awesome. I know that it’s rocky all over again but the various fights are perfectly choreographed. We feel the intensity of the action, the ripping muscles, the sweat. Tom Hardy in the ring is really scary.
Conclusion: An intense story that will grip most movie fans.

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