Netflix viewers can’t get enough of Max’s cancelled Warrior martial arts series

Is Warrior a cat in disguise? Because the action show appears to have an awful lot of lives

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Like its titular hero,Warriorappears to be extremely hard to kill: it was cancelled after two seasons by Cinemax back in 2020, saved by Warner Bros. Discovery and thencancelled again in 2023after its third season. But it looks like three times is the charm for this action/crime/drama: the show has rocketed into the top ten shows in its first week streaming onNetflix.

Season one ofWarrioris currently sitting at number eight in Netflix’s English-speaking TV chart, with 1.7 million views and 14.1 million viewing hours already. And if you haven’t heard of it, you’re in for a treat: it’s received tons of glowing reviews, and the second season has the full 100% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Is Warrior worth streaming?

Yes. Set in San Francisco in the late 19th Century during the brutal gang wars in the city’s Chinatown, it follows Ah Sahm as he becomes a hit man for one of the city’s most powerful crime families. It’s largely based on stories by martial arts legend Bruce Lee and features a primarily Asian cast.

There’s more toWarriorthan warring, asVoxexplains: “Warrioris about the many Americans who have not (and probably will never) really belong, but who have no choice but to keep grinding for the chance at a small piece of the American dream.” And it’s epic stuff.The Ringersays that “after introducing Sahm and the grimy streets of 19th-century San Francisco,Warriorquickly becomes a true ensemble piece – its deep roster of characters includes rival Tongs, brothel owners, policemen, businessmen, corrupt politicians, and aggrieved spouses of said corrupt politicians.” ImagineFargowith fight scenes and you’ve got the gist: “you’re guaranteed at least one epic action scene per episode, and one of the joys of the show is that each fight has its own unique flavor.”

The Ringer’s Miles Surrey wrote his piece after the show’s 2020 cancellation, and his review proved to be prophetic: “Perhaps, likeCobra Kai, which has gained newfound prominence on Netflix [as one of thebest Netflix shows], this martial arts show just needs a bigger platform to find an audience.” The move to Netflix appears to have done just that for a show which, as Surrey rightly says, “packs one hell of a punch”.

All three seasons ofWarriorare streaming on Netflix now.

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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.

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