The general public aren't all that bothered about their films being wrapped in cliches, apparently - the evidence for that stems from the fact that Warrior, which stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as a pair of mixed martial artists, has taken the 143 spot on the IMDb Top 250, despite clinging to all the tropes of some of the blandest sports movies ever made. Seriously; there are great performances here, but the whole thing reeks of the mainstream. "Well, IMDb is a mainstream site," you say, "voted for by a mainstream audience." Fair enough, but consider that The Fighter - an immensely superior film - hasn't graced the likes of the Top 250, and Warrior, an inferior picture in almost every capacity, has. We'll put this down to the fact that more people have seen Warrior, then, though there's no pretending that this isn't as corny a sports movie as they come - not to mention it's so darn predictable.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
