Being a big fan of MMA and seeing how the sport is in big trouble trying to get out to "regular" people - this movie really doesn't come as a surprise. However, my skepticism about it was there since the day I saw the trailer and sadly, I managed to hit its flaws beforehand spot on.
Now, since I've started the review like this, I'll continue by presenting the bad things about it first. Probably the most noticeable thing to any MMA fan are the fights (choreographies, that is). As I suspected, they are too dramatized with the use of WWE elements and we really didn't want that. The next eye-poking thing is Hardy's acting. He truly went overboard in hopelessly trying to bring his character to the screen as best as he could. He just threw too much of everything, and managed to ridicule US Marines, MMA fighters and pretty much everything else about his character. Sadly, he was really annoying to watch.
But, don't worry, there were some great things about it too. For example and to my big surprise, Nick Nolte fucking shredded the part. He utterly nailed it. I found myself wanting to shed a tear just by watching him being all torn up inside. I never knew the bastard could act. If only he remembered doing so earlier - he would most definitely be among the so-called A-listers now. Joel Edgerton was okay too, but his performance is nothing worth spewing an extra sentence about.
The next best thing is the multi-layered story, which really held together the entire time. Also, it really gave me the "what if" feeling and that's always a plus in my book. Trust me, it will make you create your own scenarios about the film's ending. Oh yeah, and if you remove that small WWE drama percentage, the fights are done okay, I guess.
But, don't worry, there were some great things about it too. For example and to my big surprise, Nick Nolte fucking shredded the part. He utterly nailed it. I found myself wanting to shed a tear just by watching him being all torn up inside. I never knew the bastard could act. If only he remembered doing so earlier - he would most definitely be among the so-called A-listers now. Joel Edgerton was okay too, but his performance is nothing worth spewing an extra sentence about.
The next best thing is the multi-layered story, which really held together the entire time. Also, it really gave me the "what if" feeling and that's always a plus in my book. Trust me, it will make you create your own scenarios about the film's ending. Oh yeah, and if you remove that small WWE drama percentage, the fights are done okay, I guess.
To conclude, I would have to say Tom Hardy played the part of Badr Hari, Joel Edgerton played Minotauro Nogueira and that cliche Kobe guy was probably the slim version of 2009 Fedor Emelianenko. What do you think?
7 out of 10.
