Warrior

If someone had told me a couple of days ago that there would be a combat sport drama that would get close to my TOP films of 2011, I would have laughed to their face. Fighter, The Wrestler, Cinderella Man, Rocky, Raging Bull… I didn’t give five stars to a single one of them and I’m actually trying to remember whether I’ve given such high rating to any other sports film. Warrior has a very straightforward plot and nobody will have a hard time figuring out how it ends – although I must say that I thought of two other endings while I watched it, both fairly effective, so I wasn’t all that sure. In the end, the creators took the path of least resistance, but it doesn’t matter, I can forgive that, because if I look at the not very sophisticated script (which doesn’t mean that it was stupid!), it’s brilliant and it works both as a drama and as an action film about fighting. In the end, Warrior arouse in me more rapturous emotions than any other film this year. Tension, followed by joy, followed by sadness, all with a great soundtrack in the back. I really prayed that the barrage of emotions wouldn’t be ruined with some pointless dialogue. Fortunately, it didn’t happen. PS: Now I believe that Hardy’s Bane will match Ledger’s Joker, really. (12/02/2011)

So this is the best picture so far this year. An intense emotional and action-packed fireball with the faultless Tom Hardy and unexpectedly great Joel Edgerton, whose future is starting to look promising. A great idea, swimming in Hollywood sauce and the exiting environment of MMA has exactly the right ingredients. Warrior is about a struggle between two losers, both heroes in a way, but just one of them can win. Sorrow is overcome at the end by joy and the classic lesson “Don’t give up" rings true. I wouldn’t be surprised if this picture became a favorite for an Oscar. (12/07/2011)

Hollywood fluffy filler about one brother's (lack of )bonding, dosed in the style of an impactful arena film. We see emotions pass through stone faces, cheap whiskey, and the musculature of movers, but the film tries so hard that it's more or less impossible not to succumb to it. Let's take the occasional outpourings of hatred around with a grain of salt and off to the gym! (12/27/2011)

An ode to (movie and viewer) joy that is spoiled just by trying to catch too many birds in bushes. To hell with all those clichés, but I would welcome it if it concentrated only on the brothers and father (plus their demons); this does actually happen, but not until the very end. Which means that all of the preceding, subordinate motifs just fizzle out. (12/14/2011)

The most perfect form and absolute pinnacle of sports drama. Every viewer will have several other films in the genre that remain more intense for them in terms of their personal experience (in my case, for example, that would be the Japanese film Gachi Boy), but Warrior represents the incredibly flawless use and fulfilment of all of the elements and techniques of its category. In order to lead viewers to sympathise with both main protagonists, the narrative brilliantly composes and conveys information for the purpose of establishing and deepening their motivations and personal levels. The cast features not only Tom Hardy as a man who anxiously keeps his heart hidden away and the excellent Joel Edgerton, who radiates that captivating combination of intelligence, strength and warmth needed for the role of a likable dad and teacher who also happens to be an MMA fighter. This perfectly tuned emotion-generating machine runs at full throttle right from the start, so it is all the more surprising when it shifts into an even higher gear in the final third of the elimination bout. The tremendously dynamic camerawork and quick editing can be egregiously wild because the precise sound mix, screenplay and directing ensure that everything remains clear. The filmmakers not only make excellent use of the roles of the sporting-event hosts, but they also employ all of the preceding motifs to inundate viewers with stunning physical acts and emotional content. The fact that this film didn’t appear in Czech cinemas at the time, even though the rights to it had been bought here, remains one of the greatest wrongs perpetrated by the local distributor. I’m thus all the more pleased that we were able to right that wrong with at least one screening at the Aero cinema, because on the big screen, Warrior is a truly monumental and intense experience. (08/20/2022)