Review of Warrior (2011) by Joeline — 08 Nov 2011

The true power of this movie, is the simple subtle honesty. It does not try to give great big background stories, or hugely emotional 'have it all out' redemption. It let you see the pain each character feels, let you guess at some of the experiences these characters had gone through. Words DONT solve everything, and they certainly dont always help. Much of our lives and relationships are subconciously built around things Unspoken, and this movie recognises this and therefore makes its interactions more honest becuase of it.

Also, the fight scenes were spot on. Honestly brutal, while not being overly bloodthirsty. If your fighting at that level, you need focus. Without it, your just brawling. The overwhelming intensity of Tommy (Tom Hardy) is almost shocking. Made more so becuase there is no boasting, no glorification, no real menace to him, he is just that strong, just that physically powerful. This contrasts with his brother who has little actual physical presence, but a focus and a drive that makes it possible for him to challenge at this level. i.e. Tommy knocks you out, Brenden taps you out etc.

Part of the power of the enstrangement in this film is that Brenden is just as eager for forgiveness and reconcilliation from his younger brother as their father is, even while he struggles with unreconcilled jelousy from the attention 'Tommy' got from their father (who was training Tommy in junior wrestling). While Tommy is just a huge powerderkeg of continued PTS, Survivors guilt and emotional abandonment.

To be honest, I think it might have been a bit too suble and unspoken on occasion, so many people who have not had any similar expeciences, or known anyone who had, may not have grasped the true ramifications of what was left unspoken. In particular the Surviors guilt for Tommy and Brenden's first true understanding of the regret that unresolved guilt brings. I thought it was a brilliant movie. Entertaining, powerful, interesting and quality. It was not shown at a lot of cinema's in America (prob becuase of the whole 'friendly fire' issue) so it wont make the money it normally would, but I expect it will do a brisk trade on DVD. And to be honest it was not really advertised as the emotional sucker punch it actually was. The fighting, while entertaining, wasnt the focal point of the movie at all. Becuase of this its viewing base may be mislead. A lot of people who would truly enjoy this movie may be scared off by the apparent physical violence of it. If you are one of those people, go watch it. It is seriously worth it.