Warrior Reviewed by an Autist

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Warrior is a mixed martial arts film about two brothers entering an MMA tournament to earn millions of dollars out of desperation. The movie not only has action-packed fight scenes, but it also tackles the themes of broken relationships between them and their abusive father, including forgiveness. Warrior sets itself apart from other action/fighting movies with its emotional aspect of familial conflicts.

As a fan of MMA, I'm impressed with its dive into the fighters' motivations behind why they choose to fight and the physical and emotional weight their fights carry. The broken family bond between the main characters was a sensitive topic for me, since I'm someone who had rough family relationships. Seeing this movie made me think about the tough sacrifices fighters go through for our entertainment.

The actors for the brothers are Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton. They showed their emotions when they knew they had to fight other opponents and each other for the prize money to change their lives out of desperation. Nick Nolte, on the other hand, played the brothers' father, portraying him as an abusive father to them before struggling with alcoholism and making failed attempts to reconcile with them. The scene where he relapsed to alcohol was emotionally heavy, and I thought he should've won an Oscar for best actor in a supporting role.

The one part of the plot I would've changed in the movie is when one brother broke the other's shoulder, and the fight in the octagon continued. I would change it by letting the fight in the octagon end and still make Joel Edgerton's character the winner by TKO. The movie would then cut to the next scene where they continue to fight in a back alley, done out of rage by the losing brother. The alley fight would end in a tap and heartfelt apology, finally ending the movie with both brothers walking away together.

Overall, I enjoyed this film as one of the action/fighting films, on the emotional side of its intense action scenes. The motivations behind the fighting resonate with my desire to improve my combat ability. And lastly, the family conflicts strongly resonate with me because they remind me of my past family conflicts. I rate this movie 8 out of 10.