For today’s double movie review, we take a look at the world of cage fighting and what happens when you mix it in with a classic movie framework.

Warrior

It’s like Rocky, but the square ring is an octagon ring. There’s the rather incredulous idea that two long separated brothers are going to meet in the last round of the ultimate ultimate fighting tournament, but the storylines individually are pretty reasonable. Of course, we have unknown underdogs defeating the reigning champions, but isn’t that a requirement for these movies? I think a little more of Tommy’s motivation should have been explained, but in the end, he’s more there to provide a little excitement and the foil for his brother.

Haywire

Initially I was comparing this to The Bourne Identity, but after a little more thought, it’s really Mission Impossible with the gadgets replaced with figure fours and arm bars. Gina Carano is probably the most impressive special agent I’ve seen in a while. She looks like she could really beat people up, because, well, she really can. I would have been scared to tangle with her for one of the fight scenes, which is also something the actors mention in a special feature (actually worth watching for once). As a movie, the story is so so, and there’s nothing imaginative going on here apart from casting Carano, but that’s impressive in its own right.