Movie Review: Warrior

Put simply: This film is a must-see! Whether you enjoy action and dramatic fight scenes, relational dramas about overcoming your past, stories of bravery and selflessness, or have a keen appreciation for cinematic style, Warrior is for you!

I knew very little about this film when I agreed to go see it with a friend. I knew it was about two MMA fighters, and that a couple friends highly recommended it. As a new UFC fan and a student of martial arts, that was really all I needed to know to give it a chance. Having seen movies featuring professional wrestlers, and seen two of the WWE films, I expected action and bad acting, but an overall enjoyable experience. What I found redefined martial arts genre.

Warrior is the story of two estranged brothers, Brendan and Tommy, who's lives were radically affected by their father's dinking and abuse. Now adults, both men struggle with their past while confronting the present. Brendan is determined to provide his family the life he never had despite mounting financial difficulty and a wife who disapproves of his desires to fight competitively. Tommy, deeply bitter and angry, returns to the home he once knew, apparently with the sole intention of training to get back in the cage. Through a combination of sheer determination and skill, both men take advantage of narrow opportunities to enter lucrative a global MMA tournament. Brendan fights to provide for his family while Tommy battles for the only thing he has left, and both are ready for war.

This is more than a great drama, though. Using advanced cinematography and excellent direction, Warrior provides highly engaging  cage action that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat! Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy display their incredible martial proficiency as they engage powerful opponents, including Rashad Evans and Erik Apple. There is no doubt that Warrior  has every bit of entertainment value as a UFC fight night!

There are a few other key elements I look for in a film that I want to take a moment to touch on. Its no secret that Hollywood and conservatives don’t always see eye to eye, so when I see a mainstream film that defies what I consider to be the “liberal film template” that permeates the industry, I like to make note of it. While Warrior has every opportunity to use the perceived money-making toss-ins like drugs, alcohol, on-screen sex, and other debauchery, it makes the conscious choice not to. When those elements are alluded to, it is always in a negative light. While there is a certain amount of adult language, it did not come across as overbearing or excessive. For the most part, the characters are all shown to be either essentially moral and trying to maintain a high standard, or struggling to overcome what many would consider “sinful habits”. Warrior certainly should not be considered a “Christian” film by any means, but I believe it is an appropriate film for parents to allow their teenagers to see with little concern.

Warrior: Excellent film for any movie lover, and hopefully and indication of quality fighter films to come!

Who's Next?

As much as it breaks my heart, the current wave of superhero films is near its completion. Marvel and DC will put a few more out each. We’ll see the Wall-Crawler a little bit longer, and the Avengers have to finish their stories, DC will throw some mud on the wall and see if anything sticks, and then they will all but disappear for a time. Its for the best, though. I would always go to see their films, but audiences in general are starting to tire of them, which means lower budgets, which of course translates to lower quality.

The cinematic circle of life must continue, however, which means we are due for a new swell of similarly-themed flicks. What that surge may look like has been an ongoing debate amongst my friends and acquaintances for a little while now. I’ve heard cases for zombies, vampires, or giant monsters. One friend suggested it’s time for more war dramas. With Real Steel coming out, some believe we’ll see a spike in high-tech action movies. Any one of these seem perfectly reasonable (although I think you can probably stick a fork in vampires for a while), but I have a different theory. I think, over the next 10 years or so, you could easily expect the dramatic comeback of fighting/martial arts films.

The late 70’s, 80’s, and early 90’s were filled with great fighting movies for all ages. Growing up, I remember seeing Rocky, The Karate Kid, Kickboxer, Kung Fu, Mortal Kombat, 3 Ninjas, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (hey, I was still in middle school, ok?). People like Jean Claude Van Damme, Bruce Lee, Steven Segal, and Hulk Hogan were household names. But with the decline of interest in both boxing and wrestling, we also saw a sharp decline in the number of martial arts films. They never truly went away, but they haven’t enjoyed the limelight they once did. Jackie Chan has kept busy through the 90’s and 2000’s. Power Rangers made sure kids still knew martial arts still existed. And who could stop Chuck Norris: Texas Ranger? Every now and then a good action/martial arts movie would pop up like Transporter and Kill Bill, but these were arguably small oases in what was once a vibrant jungle of fighting films.

Over the last few years, however, interest in martial arts in general has started to rise again. Participation in martial arts has been steadily climbing for several years as families and young adults appear to be more concerned with self defense. A greater appreciation for fighting technique and style is apparent with the success of shows like Ultimate Fighter, Fight Science, and Human Weapon. Where boxing and wrestling used to hold their own among the most viewed sports in America, UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and other mixed martial arts (MMA) organizations are well-established and on the rise.

Hollywood has certainly taken notice of these trends. They’ve tested the waters over the last few years with films like Kung Fu Panda, Ninja Assassin, and, more recently, Warrior. If there is one thing Hollywood is good at, its milking a cash cow. Because of the undeniable rise of interest in martial arts in multiple aspects of American life, I predict that we will see an equally undeniable increase in fighting/martial arts films. Brace yourself!

When an Idea Becomes More…

When I sat down at the computer tonight, I did not think this would be the topic I’d write about.

Out of the blue, this evening, I got a chat message from a buddy of mine I haven’t chatted with in a while. He asked me about how my business is doing and about life in general, and I inquired in kind. Then he asked about the film I worked on recently, A Strange Brand of Happy (I use the term “worked” rather loosely. I was a stand in for 3 days and bugged everyone around me to see if I could help move equipment and whatnot). He took a very keen interest in my goals and asked very direct questions. Before too long, he was expressing an interest in working on a project with me. This of course, reminded me that another friend of mine, a more experienced filmmaker from Indianna, had also expressed an interest in coming up and working on that very same project.

So now it seems that my friends care about my dreams of filmmaking too much to watch me procastinate and sit on my hands, and God bless them for it! Now I’ve gone from having an idea, and lovely “someday” to an eager crew of 4 men, mostly strangers, enthusiastically scheduling Skype meetings and conference calls, all to make part of my vision become reality. I don’t know what projects will make it from paper to screen, what friends I’ll make along the way, or what surprises God has in store for us, but I do know He blesses the joyful and humble effort of those who come together for His glory. I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us!

Psalm 133
A song of ascents. Of David.

How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore

Happy Birthday!

Well here it is, my very first blog entry! It may not look like much yet, but I plan on getting quite a bit of use out of this little corner of cyberspace. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to join me here!
There are a lot of things I could fill this blog with. Politics, religious debate, matters of business, retail sales events, random mutterings and thoughts, etc. While its entirely possible (dare I say, likely) that some or all of those will pop up in a post here or there, my intention is to stay pretty well focused on film here. I will probably post film reviews when I am particularly impressed (or sometimes not so much). The bulk of my posts will pertain to my own journey into the world of film. Over the last few years I have developed an ever-growing passion for Christian film, and desperately yearn to invest my life in such an incredible and vastly uncharted territory.

That may seem like an odd phrase to use, uncharted territory, but I think it fits. While Christian films have been produced since well before I was born, I believe the genre is only just now starting to blossom and establish itself. Hollywood is finally realizing there is a true hunger for these films in America. Greater, still, independent groups are popping up all across the country and around the world, from a high school student picking up a video camera and making a short, to a homeschool group pulling their resources to tell a story, to a church ministry branching out and making a feature film. Everyday Christians are coming together in every corner of Creation to use their-God-given talents and skills to make incredible works that are both ministry and worship at the same time, and that is a thing of beauty!

So with so many groups already stepping up and spreading the message of Christ through film, what could I possibly hope to offer? That’s a fair question, and one I haven’t really found an answer to, yet. I have a handful of film concepts I would like to one day bring to the screen, but that’s not really a clearly defined role. Any ya-hoo can have an idea. I don’t know if I’m fit to be a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, or any of the other multitudes of roles available. I don’t know where exactly God wants to put me, and I imagine at some point I’ll probably where quite a few different hats. What I DO know is that every Christian has a story about how they got saved, or how God carried them through a rough time, or how they witnessed a miracle, and those stories need to be told!

So that’s why I’m here. I hope you’ll check back and see how my story progresses, and even share how part of it relates to your story. Who know, maybe we’ll collaborate, and part of this becomes our story together.