(Theatrical Poster found in its wikipedia page)
Why do I decided to watch this movie ?
Well, actually before watching this movie, I went out with some friends to enjoy The Dark Knight Rises, and because of that film, I began to pay attention to Tom Hardy. I don't see a lot of this guy before, and I don't see this face too in TDKR because he wore a mask. But when I saw some interviews in YouTube, I began to realize, oh.. he's the guy from Inception (it's a common knowledge that most of the cast in Inception work previously with director Chris Nolan in Batman Begins/The Dark Knight, and after that the cast also work with him in TDKR).
And when I browse some meme sites, there was a photo of Tom Hardy, bulked up, and someone gives the caption of the photo as "Tom Hardy preparing for TDKR", which someone else commented "dude, you're wrong, he got those muscles for his role as an MMA Fighter in Warrior".
So I tried to get that film (Warrior). It was a good movie. You know it's a guy flick (opposed to chick flick) when there was a scene where a woman had an argument with a man, the man makes the decision anyway, and later the woman, although upset because the man didn't take her counsel, changed her mind and supports him all the way (If this was a chick flick, it would happen the other way around).
Warning : Spoiler Alert. Proceed At Your Own Risk
The story starts with Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte), apparently just got back from a community meeting (he applauded a lady for wonderful sharing). On the way, he was listening to an audiobook which I recognized immediately when the narrator mention the name "Ahab" as Moby Dick (by Herman Melville), the story of one man's obsession to pursue a whale -- I read that in Primary School (11yo)
He finds his estranged son Tommy (played by Tom Hardy) waiting in the doorstep. Tommy confronts Paddy about his abusive behavior (as an alcoholic) towards him and his (currently deceased) mother, and Paddy tries to convince Tommy that he had changed.
The scene changed to a birthday party, and there was some conversation that the parents of the birthday girl currently didn't have enough money and the father (Brendan Conlon, Tommy's older brother, father of 2 girls, played by Joel Edgerton) had to work 2 jobs.
And then we saw Tommy entering a gym, where one of the employees was watching news about an MMA
Tournament (Sparta) with a 5 million dollars main prize. Tommy trains for a while and when a fighter named Mad Dog Grimes asks for a sparring partner, Tommy volunteered, and beat Mad Dog with a knock out. The employee recorded the whole scene and said that he's gonna upload the video into YouTube.
The scene changed back to Brendan's daytime work as a Physics Teacher, after school, he met with a guy (bank employee I think) where the guy mentions that Brendan had to make enough money or that his house will be foreclosed. Brendan mentions that he's late on payment because he had to pay for his daughter open heart surgery.
Brendan's get frustrated and entered an amateur fighting event. He gets beat up but wins anyway. He got home, His wife Tess (played by Jennifer Morrison) asks what happened and he told her that he needed to make some money or their house will be foreclosed.
The next day, Tommy asks Paddy to be his trainer, because he wants to join the tournament. Paddy agrees, with the hope of reconciling his relationship with Tommy. Meanwhile, Brendan got called by the principal because rumors is spreading that he'd involved in fights. And the result, Brendan got suspended without pay. And then he had a conversation with Tess, convincing her to let him get back to the ring.
The next morning, we saw a bunch of marines watching the video of Tommy beating Mad Dog Grimes in YouTube, where some soldiers recognized Tommy and then crosschecked with another video.
Brendan went to a Gym, meets with his former trainer Frank Campana (apparently Brendan previously entered UFC, where he got beat up pretty bad, and Campana got yelled at by Tess). Brendan convinced Campana to let him train again. Campana allows him to do, but mentions that he's currently busy training one of his fighters for Sparta.
During the night, Paddy tries to visit Brendan's house, where Paddy got rejected. From the dialogues, we know that Tommy was previously Paddy's favorite, and that Brendan felt neglected. Tommy meets the gym owner where he convinced the owner to register him into the tournament
And then we saw images of Brendan & Tommy training, interspersed with some news of the upcoming Sparta tournament. We saw that the fighter that Campana is preparing for the tournament gets injured.
Brendan tries to convince Campana that he can replace the injured fighter, and after a while Campana agrees. Brendan's wife confronts him, and after an argument, Brendan didn't change his mind and Tess tells him that she wouldn't support him (I mentioned before that this is a guy flick, in the end, she changed her mind and supports him all the way).
Both Tommy and Brendan entered the tournament, and during the press conference, Brendan saw Tommy. Tommy went back to the hotel where he was staying with Paddy, and they saw on TV, the marine previously recognized Tommy gave an interview about Tommy's heroics in the Iraq War saving the Marine and his Unit's life.
Brendan tries to meet Tommy in the night, and from the dialogs, we know that when Paddy was still an abusive drunkard, Tommy and his mom left Paddy, while Brendan stayed with paddy because of he couldn't leave his girlfriend (now wife), and that because Brendan's was jealous of Tommy being Paddy's favorite, and tried to get Paddy's attention for himself. The meetup ended rather abrupt by both of them yelling at each other.
And then day 1 of the tournament started. now this is the fun part :D
Brendan first fight didn't go to well, where he was almost defeated, only during the last minute to come out victorious. We saw Tess waiting anxiously in front of her phone (she didn't want to watch the fight on TV). And when she received a text message saying that Brendan won, we saw her jumped around in joy.
Meanwhile Tommy first fight go very well, what I enjoyed the most is when the fight commentators (they are actual fight commentators in real life) joked around about Tommy being a an overnight YouTube sensation and that Brendan is a like a goldfish thrown in the shark tank only to be proven that they're wrong.
Brendan's second fight didn't go to well either, but he won again. His wife now watches the fight on TV.
Tommy's second fight was a breeze. He fights like an animal (I read somewhere that the reason Tom Hardy was cast as Tommy is because of these 'animalistic qualities').
After the fight, Tommy had an argument with Paddy. Where it was apparent the day after that Paddy somehow begins to drink alcohol and get drunk again (In the beginning of the movie, Paddy mentions that it has been a year since he last drinks alcohol). He quotes many phrases from Moby Dick, and Tommy is feeling guilty and tries to calm him down (Paddy was put back to bed)
And then the 2nd day of the fight began. Tommy beats Mad Dog again (the commentator shouted that "Mad Dog has been poleaxed", because the fight ended so soon).
And then comes Brendan's fight, which I think is the most exciting part of the whole movie. After Brendan climbs the ring, Campana tells him that his wife is among the audience, and they glanced at each other (in a true guy flick manner).
Brendan is fighting Koba (Played by Kurt Angle - if you watched a lot of wrestling, you would know him). He get's in trouble during the fight (even the commentators exclaimed that they don't know how Brendan could take such a beating and survived). But during the last round, After a brief motivational speech from Campana, Brendan manages to turn the tide. And the crowd cheers. (me too. I'm very satisfied with the execution of the plot).
Before the final fight between Tommy vs Brendan. There was a newsflash mentioned that Tommy was recognized as a deserter (he deserted after a friendly fire that kills his entire team, including his best friend Manny).
There was an Interview showing Manny's wife Pilar. And because he is a deserter, Tommy will be arrested right after the final fight. The news also mentions that if he wins, Tommy pledges all of his winning for Pilar and her kids.
And then some military guys showed up in front of Tommy's preparation room.
The second news is by the commentators, they mention that they had trouble believing it, but they found out that Brendan and Tommy are in fact brothers.Meanwhile Paddy woke up and took a taxi to the arena, arriving to watch his sons fight.
And came the final fight. Brendan was mostly get beat up by Tommy's sheer brutality, But like before, Brendan manages to turn back the tide, and even dislocated Tommy's shoulder. In pain, Tommy still doesn't acknowledge defeat.
The scene get's pretty dramatic here. A sad song played (About Today, by The National) , and the scene get's visual, we saw Paddy holding back tears, Tess with a worried look on her face, Brendan with a look of guilt, and to top it all, Tommy is crying in pain.
Tommy tries to fight, but because of his shoulder, there was little that he could do, and he ended up being locked by Brendan. For me, it was both a lock and a hug, they were crying together. I also let out some tears during this fight.
Well, from my story, you guys already know who won.
So to end this post, here's my conclusion.
- It was a great movie. A true guy flick with a healthy dose of emotions.
- Don't be like Paddy. Alcoholism ruins your life and your family. And also don't treat your children as if one of them are your favorite.
- Sibling rivalry exists in all family with more than one child. Every kid is trying to best the other, be it for achievement or even for their parent's attention. But in the end, they are still siblings, and if raised correctly, they will still love each other.
Personal Note on sibling rivalry :
In my junior high/high school years, I get frustrated when I'm being compared with my older sister (we wen't
to the same schools).
She's an outgoing person while I'm not. But because I'm her brother, some teachers expected me to be like her. Damn I hate that. Luckily I had strengths in other fields that my sister didn't had.
For all of you teachers, please don't compare your students with their older siblings. Especially don't mock them if maybe in some fields, the younger one didn't achieve as good as the older ones.
And that goes to everybody I suppose, because I've had some friends who are also frustrated because their own family compared them with their older brothers/sisters. In the most serious cases, the kid being compared actually believes that he is inferior, and could start to hate their older sibling.
- No wonder Tom Hardy got chosen as Bane. He's an animal!
(he's also won an award in the movie Bronson, where he portrayed a violent criminal) - Tess fits well as a fighter's wife. She didn't like her man going to fight, but in the end, she respects his decision and supports him all the way. Roles like this is how you know the movie isn't a chick flick.
Well, that's all I suppose.
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