Warrior Review

Once in a while a truly great movie comes around that knocks you on your ass. You have a truly visceral experience and rare moments of wonder and awe as you crouch precariously on the literal and proverbial edge of your seat. The movie fires on all cylinders and almost cannot fail in being awesome.

Warrior is that kind of movie.

I seriously cannot give this flick high enough praise.

If you know nothing about it except that it's THAT MMA movie, let me explain a couple things. First off, yes MMA fighting features into the plot of the flick, but it's not really about that. This is the story of two brothers from a family that's been torn apart years ago off-screen. The two men have grown and become two very different people with their own stories (which I won't go into and spoil here). They both have a background for very different reasons in cage fighting. They also have some demons (personal and professional) that lead them to get into the cage for a competition fight with a very large purse and ultimately end up having to fight each other. But that's neither here nor there. In fact, it's getting ahead of myself. The drama of the film isn't even really on the relationship the brother's have with each other, it's more about their own personal stories and what they want and what they will lose if they fail to win this prize. Meaning, you get involved with these guys. You care about BOTH of them. You root for both of them.

Choose wisely, holy man!

There's a scene towards the end that really gives a sense of what I'm talking about here. Without giving anything away, Nick Nolte, who plays the brothers' father (like a BOSS) is watching his sons fight and is crying. It's subtle yet powerful. But it's almost how you feel as an audience member. This movie puts you in the place of a family member. You care about both of these guys, you care about their failures and their successes. And again without spoiling anything, it's almost heart breaking to watch these guys fight each other. By the end, I wished I had dragged my brother along to see this with me so that we could cry together at the end...OK, maybe not cry, but sniffle a little bit. Except we're both badasses that don't cry.

No I'm kidding there would be waterworks...but they would be MANLY tears.

In closing I just want to say three final things:

1. Nick Nolte is a tour de force.

2. Get off the computer and go see the movie.

3. Tom Hardy who plays one of the brothers is going to play Bane in the Dark Knight Rises...he will be awesome.

Bane...fear him.