MMA, that is, comprehensive martial arts, is a sports competition that combines boxing, karate, and Sanda.
was influenced by Bruce Lee's concept of "martial arts should learn from others' strengths". MMA's fighting owners have a high degree of appreciation and fluency. In addition to forcibly knocking down their opponents, players can also use various techniques to force their opponents to surrender.
Tommy and Brendan in "Warriors" are the extremes of two winning methods.
Tommy is like a cheetah, attacking quickly and killing its prey in seconds;
Brendan is like a python, looking for opportunities and strangling its prey.
They were all unknown people, but they became famous because of an MMA competition. Although
is different from the highest-spec UFC, this competition called "Spartan" has won widespread attention in the United States due to its unique format and high prize money. 16 top middleweight players played 1 to 1 elimination, the final 4 consecutive wins will receive a reward of 5 million US dollars. The organizer of the
event is absolutely top-notch in terms of promotion and marketing. It was chosen to be held on July 4th in the United States, and Koba, the "strongest player" with an undefeated record, was the gimmick. This was not enough. After the start of the game, he also captured the personal heroic deeds of contestant Tommy and publicized it.
Tommy had saved the lives of his comrades while serving in Iraq, but he did not take credit at the time. After his comrades found him on the Internet, he became a "net celebrity player."
Brendan here is basically a re-enactment of the plot of "Tekken Man" . An outdated player participated in the competition due to a family financial crisis.
He had participated in the UFC, but became a physics teacher after retiring and has not played a regular game for a long time. Had he not been friends with the famous coach Frank Campana, he would not be eligible to participate.
is contrary to Tommy, who is very popular. Brendan gets more ridicule. A physics teacher participating in an MMA competition is simply "suicide".
Until Brendan used a strong will, rich experience, and excellent skills to achieve upset, he became the spokesperson of the small person's counterattack overnight.
Tommy and Brendan reached the finals hand in hand in their own ways.
At this time, the organizers dug up even bigger information. It turns out that Tommy and Brendan are brothers, and they will be in the same room in the final arena.
This is something that the audience will know from the beginning. The two protagonists will definitely play a match. The final climax is the brothers showdown in the final.
is so without suspense, it can even be said to be a clichéd plot. "Warrior" got a high score of 8.9 on Douban, IMDb8.2, and the freshness of rotten tomatoes is 83%. From the word of mouth, this is MMA. The ceiling of the movie.
Indeed, the story of "Warrior" replays the old tune, and the creative score is almost zero.
But the movie will never lose its charm because of "repetition", the classic story is worth shooting again and again.
It is very important that the director can express the emotional power through the story, or create an unforgettable role.
The little-known director Gavin O'Connor did it. He knew where the focus of his script was, not MMA, but family.
This is actually a story about a native family from rupture to repair.
Gavin O'Connor’s narrative and rhythm are the key to the success of 's "Warriors" and .
He set the protagonist's family breakup as "prehistory", which made the film a suspense at the beginning.
What happened between Tommy and his father?
What caused the break between the father and son?
With questions, the audience can easily immerse themselves in the story.
The most attractive part of "Warrior" is not the visible part, but the invisible part. The audience needs to piece together the heartbreaking past of Tommy and the Brendan family from the lines.
until about 70 minutes of the film, obviouslyIn the "midpoint scene", the two brothers finally met, and the whole picture of the broken family emerged.
Then the result of the game is not that important. Everyone knows that the two protagonists will definitely meet in the ring. The real concern is whether the grievances between Tommy, Brendan and his father can finally be resolved, or How to resolve.
has a mature story frame, narrative rhythm, and emotional core as the foundation, "Warrior" has been guaranteed to be a qualified drama.
wants to take it to the next level, and the burden falls on the actors.
To act in such sports-themed movies, actors must be prepared to suffer.
1980 "Angry Bull" , Robert De Niro made a first demonstration. Before shooting, he had a lot of physical training, learned boxing from the role prototype boxing champion Jack La Motta for a year, and even participated in the real Boxing match. Later, the middle-aged state of depraved character in the future, he gained weight and became a big fat man, and he was well-deserved as the actor.
2013 "Golden War" , Peng Yuyan spent three months undergoing intensive training, reducing his body fat rate to 3% of professional bodybuilders standards; Zhang Jiahui, who is over 40 years old, has transformed himself from a "skinny" Become a muscular man, and then have to learn MMA fighting skills, God knows how he persevered.
2016 "Wrestle Dad!" ", Amir Khan's body shaping deeds are well known. He took his 50-year-old body to gain weight and lose weight. The muscles he worked so hard to train were only for the few flashbacks.
Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton are naturally not "excluded", they also had high-intensity training before filming, and even the 70-year-old actor Nick Knott who played the role of his father also participated.
and the fierce fighting of MMA has only met the basic requirements. You must know that "Warrior" is essentially a family movie. If you can't perform the inner drama, the effect will undoubtedly be a "car accident."
Fortunately, the casting of the film side was successful, and Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton are not just people who can endure hardship.
Tom Hardy performed Tommy's grief, loss, pain, and cruelty that people dare not approach, especially the scene where the anger of his father in the game hall is not "acted" at all.
Joel Edgerton performed Brendan's helplessness, determination, and bravery. He inherited the rigidity and softness of the Australian predecessor Russell Crowe, and successfully managed the two identities of MMA fighter and father.
Nick Knott performed his father's remorse, self-blame, and sentimentality. With this performance, he won the Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. The excellent performance of the actors and actresses supported the structure of the story, which made the film possess the level of "Australian".
In the end, we saw the successful integration of family affection and fighting, and the two story lines of family and MMA competition were closely intertwined.
Because of the family factor, the character entered the MMA game, and because of the MMA game, the family conflict (also the main contradiction of the plot) was resolved. The "blank" in the ending of
was the finishing touch, and the audience did not end the reverie because of the expected result.
What is the real "warrior"?
The answer in everyone's heart is looming in the background of a song "About Today".
If you don't knock him down, you will have no home. ——"Warrior"
