It's not that I didn't WANT to like Warrior. It's that I didn't EXPECT to like it.
As far as I could tell, it was the latest attempt at a sports movie set in the world of mixed martial arts and would simply squeeze the genre's battle-tested tropes and plot twists into a pair of fingerless gloves. The trailer and commercials do little to dispel that notion, pretty much laying out the conceit of the movie ("the two men fighting for the championship tonight...ARE BROTHERS!") and playing up every moderately-clichéd beat from the film as if it's the spiritual successor to Never Back Down, Fighting or the direct-to-DVD Undisputed sequels. When I told a friend I had just come from a preview screening, he said, "You mean the one that's 'The Fighter' but with Nick Nolte?"
It's not The Fighter, but it does treat its subject matter with a level of seriousness that continued to impress and surprise me. Warrior isn't just the best MMA film to date, it just might be one of the best sports movies of the past decade.
My preconceptions took their first body blow when the film opened with bleak shots of Pittsburgh set to The National's "Start A War", a melancholy deep cut from the Pitchfork-friendly band's 2007 album, Boxer. Where was the new comeback single from Creed? The power ballad from Theory of a Deadman or some other band I had to look up on Wikipedia to find out if they are a real thing? From the very beginning, the movie seeks to subvert expectations of the sports movie genre, and does so to great effect. The filmmaking duo of brothers Greg O'Connor (producer) and Gavin O'Connor (director and co-writer) make Warrior seem like a remarkably original take by playing around with archetypal elements in the subject matter and the storytelling style. They have prior experience in both - before creating the 2004 hockey flick Miracle, they documented the life of one-time UFC star Mark Kerr in the acclaimed HBO production The Smashing Machine.
That experience and reverence with sports and specifically with MMA shows through in Warrior, and it sets the film apart from other entries in the genre. What it lacks in a "big picture" plot - two brothers enter national MMA tournament and end up across the cage from each other - it makes up in nuance and character depth.
Without delving into spoilery details, I can explain it best by telling you two things the movie lacks: flashbacks and a defined "black hat" bad guy. Although it's clear that the central family in the movie have a complicated history together, we never jump back to their past to see what tore them asunder; we only see the consequences all these years later. Through that context, the filmmakers go to great lengths to show the motivations, faults and redemption for both brothers - the older, less-athletic family man who's had to fight a little more for everything (Joel Edgerton of last year's Animal Kingdom) and the younger wrestling-prodigy-turned-Marine with a lone wolf complex (Tom Hardy, soon to be Bane in The Dark Knight Rises). What makes Warrior such a compelling story is that it's actually two sports movies played against each other.
The brothers' stories run concurrently but don't cross until the end - a climax that the audience already knows is coming thanks to the trite marketing - and the filmmakers take advantage of telegraphed destination to make the journey more important. They manage to split all the tried-and-true sports movie plot points between the two brothers so neither seems so blatantly far-fetched (or, for purposes of that final conflict, so blatantly set up to succeed). Both men have their own stories and neither is the Big Bad for the final fight. It's a buildup that has similarities to most current UFC fights, where each guy brings his own origin story and baggage to the cage.
That reverence toward the MMA culture shows through in other aspects as well. Polarizing clothiers TapouT appear to have helped produce the film and they have a heavy presence, as does ESPN's MMA Live crew. Veteran fighters Anthony "Rumble" Johnson and Nate Marquardt make appearances as also-rans in the central tournament. Most notably, the fight scenes throughout the movie were clearly plotted out and shot by someone who understands the sport. Although the action is still a little juiced up (spoiler alert: the producers seem to share Dana White's disdain of leaving it up to the judges), nothing looks like it would be out of place on a Greatest Hits highlight reel, even that trailer clip of wrestler/noted drunk driver Kurt Angle powerbombing a hapless foe (was Rampage Jackson unavailable?). There's even a few hidden nods to more hardcore fans, like references to "smokers" (unofficial licensed small shows usually held in gyms) or having a comedian (MADtv alum Brian Callen) serving as color commentator for the big fights a la Joe Rogan.
Just so it doesn't sound like I'm straight-up shilling for this movie, I do have one major criticism: it's grainy as hell. It's very clear that they shot on digital (you know, like pretty much every modern movie) but whether it was a deliberate effort or a side effect of the gloomier shots they go for all the way until the big action scenes at the end, the amount of noise on the screen is constantly noticeable. I was sitting up fairly close and that could have also affected my perception, but it was the first time that I couldn't recognize a depth of field due to the overall texture of the shot. It fits with the more guerilla-ish style of shooting they went with (maybe it was handheld? I don't notice these things like I probably should) but obviously film quality wasn't among their top priorities. It's a thin line between matching the aesthetic of your subject and distrcting from it.
So let's circle back on that thing I said about Warrior being one of the great sports movies of the decade. Since 2001, we've got five movies that I'd automatically put on that list: Million Dollar Baby, Cinderella Man, Miracle, The Wrestler and The Fighter. That's four movies centered around "combat" sports and the one previous effort by the O'Connor brothers. After that, you've got a couple decent football movies (Invincible, We Are Marshall), a few decent basketball movies (Coach Carter, Glory Road), a few decent horse racing movies (Seabiscuit, Secretariat) and a bunch of other so-so flicks that depend on your personal preference (for me, Dodgeball would make the list). I would put Warrior up against anything outside of that top five.
Regardless of legacy, it's a very enjoyable and very well-made genre film. The previous titleholder for "best MMA movie" was probably David Mamet's Redbelt, but the convoluted relationship between the sport and the narrative made it a shaky champion. Warrior embraces the perception of a sports movie about fighters with all the enthusiasm of a sweaty shirtless man-hug after 15-25 minutes of facepunching. Give it a shot the next time you are looking for a classic "personal triumph" story; it offers two for the price of one. If you're like me or most of the other early reviewers (as of today, 77/100 on Metacritic and 90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), Warrior will surpass your expectations. And when was the last time any movie did that?