Warrior: Tom Hardy

I just finished watching 2011's Warrior, though I am late by about 4 months. For those of you who watched it on time... well-done; and for those who are yet to see it, do it soon! With meagre earnings of $18 million worldwide, Warrior came and disappeared from the cinema halls in the blink of an eye. But it has garnered about 41,000 votes (and counting) on Imdb so far and features on the Imdb #250 list as of now! Which if one sees the movie, is not really surprising. It is likely to become one of those movies that does not fare well on the box office but later on develops a cult following. While Nick Nolte would no doubt take away many plaudits for his outstanding (and award deserving) characterisation of the estranged father who is valiantly trying to correct all the mistakes of his past life, I was pleasantly introduced to the wonderful performance of Tom Hardy in this movie.

With a decade long track record in the movie industry, Tom Hardy really came in the spotlight with his role as the identity forger, Eames, in the massive hit Inception of 2010. But what has really made him or will make him a household name in the future is his role as the hefty Bane, the new nemesis of Batman in the yet to be released The Dark Knight Rises. And with the responsibility of taking on such a massive role on his shoulders, after all he will be drawing comparisons with Heath Ledger's Joker, I wanted to see how really big those shoulders are. And if Warrior is anything to go by, those shoulders are huge... literally and figuratively. Tom Hardy plays Tommy Conlon, the younger of the two sons left to look after themselves after their dad, played by Nick Nolte, turns out to be a violent non-caring figure. With such a father and having had to bury his mother, Tommy develops a deep loathing in his heart which he tries to fuel through his fights. Tom Hardy has worked on this character so beautifully that you love his arrogance and sympathise with the reason for his rage. While Joel Edgerton as the older brother appears to have more human like emotions, you still root for Tommy in each fight and can feel what is burning inside him. The tattoos on the body, the sharp punches, the stern look, they all come together for a splendid performance! And one of the scenes that takes the cake for me is when he puts his drunk father to bed after having burst out on him the previous night.

Hooked on to his performance now, I looked up on the other roles Tom Hardy would be working on. He is part of the mouth-watering cast in Tinker Tailor Solider Spy; have been looking forward to this flick for quite sometime and really eager to watch it. Tom Hardy would be also appearing in a not-so-serious role in This Means War where he would be competing with Chris Pine for Reese Witherspoon's attention; action comedy flick that seems so-so to me. What has really got me interested is the period flick called Wettest Country to be released in August 2012 which has Tom Hardy along with the likes of Gary Oldman and Shia LaBeouf. A tale about a bootlegging gang in the Depression-era, it has got a premise that has piqued my ears, and hopefully it will not disappoint. By then though, many would have already formed a stronger opinion about Tom Hardy, based on his performance in The Dark Knight Rises, to be released in July 2012. I hope he rises up to the challenges that such a role demands, but the initial signs are definitely promising! We could be hearing about Tom Hardy a lot more in the future...