2011 Ranked
Non-2020 First Time Watches Ranked

Film #23 of my Chain Reaction Challenge

Guys...we might...yes, I can confirm. This film is indeed another MOTHERFUCKING MASTERPIECE!

Seriously, this is the best film I've seen in 2020 so far and I am honestly thinking of re-doing my Top 100 and seeing where it fits in, as it is going to be in there.

For starters, I'm not a huge MMA fan (although I was a big WWE guy so it was cool to see Kurt Angle as Koba) but the way the fight scenes were shot in this was brilliant. The perfect amount of shaky without being too disorienting.

But I have to be honest, I could take or leave the actual fight scenes in this. What drew me in was the family drama, and the reason it drew me in wasn't the story, which was actually quite conventional. It was the incredible acting jobs of the three main cast members; Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte, the latter of which was just a heartbreaking performance. I don't get TOO wrapped up in who should/should not have won Oscars but Kenneth Branagh's performance in whatever he won for had better have been fucking mindblowing cos otherwise, Nolte was robbed. This was the closest I've ever come to crying during a film. 100% serious.

This film just goes to show that you don't need a story with unnecessary twists and turns (although I do like how they let Hardy's story unfold almost in chapters) to be successful and it can in fact follow the general blueprint. If it is executed to damn-near perfection like this, the shit is just gonna work.

Fuck yeah, I love this fucking film.