Warrior review

Number 145 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2011 sports drama Warrior.

Tommy Riordan (Tom Hardy) and his estranged older brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton) used to be MMA fighters.  But when their strained personal lives become too much to bear, they find themselves returning to MMA.

I think the biggest problem for me with this film is that I have no interest in MMA.  Like Rocky or Rush, I just have no interest in the subject matter.  This meant that much of the emotional gravitas of the film was lost on me.  And, as you would expect, MMA itself features heavily, which I found uninteresting to watch.  This isn't to say that the fights weren't well choregraphed, but I didn't find them engaging at all.

The acting and performances were very good, but I just didn't enjoy the film.  Out of the two leads, I much preferred Brendan.  I felt his character was written for better.  It was more personable and Edgerton played the character well.  Tom Hardy also played Tommy well, but his character was more opaque.  I didn't relate to him as much as I did with Brendan.

So, while a lot of people may enjoy this film and consider it one of the best 1000 in the world, it just wasn't for me.