Paperaxle Reviews "Warrior"

I saw this at an "invitational screening" the other day, and was asked to provide a few comments to the advertising agency to describe the movie. I told them "The best mixed martial arts movie ever! With plenty of heart and soul, and characters who remain with you longer than an ugly bruise! Look out Rocky, the Conlon brothers are in town!"

I just wanted to sound like a movie critic. And I gave them something they really wanted to hear. I don't even like these type of UFC movies, even going so far as saying "You can't even spell the word FUCK without using the letters U, F and C!"

This movie doesn't open until September 9th, and I was leery of giving a review of this movie so early, but the advertising agency told me "Please go ahead and write a review! We really want the word to get out for this film!" I mean, I cannot write a review of the movie "Real Steel" this early, although I saw the movie four months ago, because the producers don't want me to give too much away.

So here goes...

Tom Conlon (Tom Hardy) is the youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer, Paddy Conlon (played by Nick Nolte) who after going AWOL in Iraq, returns home to seek training from his father for an ultimate Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) tournament, being held in Atlantic City. It's a five million dollar, winner-take-all event, with participants as far away as Russia competing in this.

Tom's brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton), a former Physics teacher for a Pittsburgh high school and married with two daughters, is facing foreclosure of his house and stands to lose everything. He is suspended from teaching after he is caught fighting in a local tournament to help support his family, and now has no income to pay his bills.

Several years before, Paddy (who at that time was a washed up drunk) broke up his family and left, taking Brendan and leaving Tom with his mother, leaving the entire family estranged from each other. This ultimate MMA tournament will unite what is left of the family (the mother having died previously), although there is no love between either of the brothers towards their father. Paddy wants to reunite his family, but the brothers (except for being Tom's trainer) don't want anything to do with him.

The top 16 MMA fighters are in Atlantic City to compete, and the brothers are among them. With a setup like this, you know that somehow the brothers will be forced to fight each other, on a number of different levels (physically and mentally), and it will happen. Sounds like a rehashed plot of any number of fight movies you've seen, and to a degree it is, but it's whats done with the plot that really makes it outstanding.

I highly recommend this (approximate) 130 minute film, even hoping that Nick Nolte is nominated for an Academy Award. My wife, who owns a martial arts studio, couldn't stop raving about the movie, and was yelling all though the movie "Nice takedown!", so you know that the fighting scenes are authentic. It's easily the best movie either of us has seen this year, and it will be up for Oscar contention come next year.

Giving this one four armbars and a triangle choke. I never expected this movie to be as good as it was. You guys have something to look forward to in this one. Remember me come next March and the Academy Awards.