Warrior review

Tom Conlon: So you gonna ask about her, or you just gonna sit there all sober? 
Paddy Conlon: I know. 
Tom Conlon: Oh you know. What do you know? You know it wasn't enough to drive west to get away from you? When we hit the water we drove north, too. 
Paddy Conlon: When I get sober I hired a man to find you. 
Tom Conlon: Is that one of the 12 steps? Or does a guy like you get 24? 

Director: Gavin O'Connor
(2011)

In many ways, sports films remind me of RomComs. Ever since I watched the first 3 Rocky films, it’s dawned on me that for the most part, this genre is filled with almost identical films using the same, almost identical stories. There’s always big stakes, a training montage and a final fight against a superior adversary that ends in victory for our protagonist. While Warrior is guilty of using clichés as much as the next film, it offers something fresh with the inclusion of 2 protagonists. While this makes for a more intriguing film capped with an enjoyable, unpredictable climax.

These 2 protagonists are Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Brendan (Joel Edgerton) Conlon, both MMA fighters from childhood who share a broken family. Tommy went into the army to escape the suffering caused by the loss of his mother, while Brendan settled down with his sweetheart and had a family. The cause of their families troubles stem from their father Paddy (Nick Nolte) an alcoholic who’s almost 1000 days sober when Tommy comes back to Pittsburgh to visit him.

While it’s more than apparent that Paddy is a bad person, his past is never properly divulged, and we only here of the suffering he caused rather than actually see it. As a result he is painted in a sympathetic light, a regular at church who goes home to a lonely and empty house. It’s deserved, but his attempts to change; most notably his almost 3 year sobriety doesn’t impress his sons at all. His chance at reconciliation is thanks to Sparta, a MMA tournament that offers 5 million dollars to the victor. Both Tommy and Brendan need the cash, the latter’s job as a school teacher doesn’t sufficiently pay the bills and the formers motives are an intriguing mystery for the majority of the film.

This is where Warrior is at its most predictable. Both fighters aren’t as good as they used to be, and we get the typical montage to show their growth into deadly fighters. Up until this point around the half way mark, Warrior has been a relatively mellow film, focusing on the characters and their respective predicaments. This is arguably where O’Connor is at his strongest, and the reasons that these 2 brothers choose to fight again is a strong driving force that successfully raises the stakes as soon as the tournament starts. When it does, things shift into high gear, with almost the entire second half of the film being dedicated to the fighting. There are dramatic threads interweaved here, and one involving Nolte is quite possibly the finest scene in the film, but the action definitely takes centre stage.

For the most part, the battles are thrilling, the 2 brothers having differing fighting styles which adds ample variety, something that's essential considering the amount of brawling we bear witness to punches, throws, kicks elbows and grapples all come into play, and no 2 fights ever feel similar. While the blows that land in the arena carry weight and power, they're letdown somewhat by another case of shaky camera syndrome. Extreme close ups and objects between the camera and the arena is another frequent annoyance, all of which mar some strong choreography.

Other issues are dotted throughout Warrior, all of which are utterly pointless and could have easily been avoided. Brendan’s students are cliché, overenthusiastic and grating, complaints that can also be levelled at his wife and boss. The ringside commentators talk crap throughout every fight as well, and while their inclusion is necessary, their terrible dialogue is not. But these frustrations are relieved by an ending so overpowering that grown men may well cry. It’s not perfect, but Warrior is one of the better sports films of recent years.

Real Steel review

Charlie Kenton: How the hell do you know Japanese? 
Max Kenton: Video games. 

Director: Shawn Levy
(2011)

My biggest complaint of the sports film genre is that if you’ve seen one of them, chances are you’ve seen them all. There are some exceptions of course, such as Warrior (2 protagonists) The Wrestler and Raging Bull (more focus on the character outside the arena/ring). Despite the fact that Real Steel is about boxing robots in the future, it’s still a slave to the conventions.

The film centres on Hugh Jackman’s character Charlie, a robot boxing promoter who seems to always be down on his luck. After losing his money and robot in a fight, he suffers another blow when his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) has to stay with him when his mother dies. The relationship between Charlie and his son max is cold and unloving, something of a pleasant surprise actually. Charlie only takes custody on him after his mother’s death to make a quick buck from the boy’s uncle. This initially makes Charlie the bad guy, he possesses more interest in money than he does in the wellbeing of his own flesh and blood. It’s actually a bit of a shame that their relationship does mend through their shared passion of robot boxing, Charlie’s love for cash outstripping his need to look after max made him a far more interesting character. Instead, he’s becomes predictably cliché, something that Real Steel is unendingly guilty of.

This predictability runs into Real Steel’s many fight scenes as well. Fighters will get up as the ref counts to 9 and the underdog always seems to snatch a surprise victory from the jaws of defeat. Despite being well  shot, these fight scenes lack any real bite. These massive metal robots leather the hell out of each other and nothing noteworthy happens, other than some loud clangs. It’s a shame that the punches completely lack conviction, as the choreography of these fights is solid.

Real Steels issues persist throughout, both inside and outside of the ring. The soppy love story that doesn’t go anywhere, the awful product placement intended to ram Microsoft products down our throat and the abundance of clichés aren’t even the biggest problems that Real Steel has. That would go to Charlie’s son max. He’s a precocious, bratty kid with no manners and is dislikeable from beginning to end. While it seems he is intended to grow on us as the film progresses, he still has a loud mouth and a bad attitude. This is obviously no fault of Dakota Goyo, but his character was annoying enough to lower my enjoyment of the film.

Overlooking its dislikeable characters and clichés, Real Steel is an easy watch, with successful pacing of its fight scenes so its 2 hour running time flies by. It’s a shame that it doesn’t do any different to other, better films that reside in this genre.