Real Steel was AWESOME!! It’s obviously a ridiculously stupid premise but it left a gigantic smile on my face and the audience I screened the film with cheered at the end. Set in the not so distant future in the year 2020, boxing has moved from humans to 2000-pound robots for more carnage and exciting fights. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is an ex-boxer who never got a shot at becoming champion and instead becomes a robot operator making a living by piecing together scrappy bots to fight in low-end underground fights. That is, until he gets stuck taking care of his 9, 10 or 11-year old kid Max who Charlie abandoned once before. Fate brought Max together with his own robot Atom and consequently brings father Charlie together with son Max for a surprisingly family-oriented film.
In the beginning, the movie moves as fast as Charlie Kenton’s hot-headed mind does. He doesn’t think before his actions and eventually has to pay for each consequence. You don’t have to wait very long until you see one of these glorious robots and they truly are impressive. This movie was built to be “cool” and they did a great job engineering these robots to fill that description. From the robots to the characters and settings, the movie projects crazy stereotypes. Video game violence? Yup. Caffeine (and probably other party favor)-infused psycho fans? Uh huh. Anime-looking Asian robot designers and tech support-looking geek robot operators? You betcha. Director Shawn Levy created a sensationalized world that goes batshit crazy for a glimpse at some metal to metal poundings (not too much unlike current day crazed sports enthusiasts). Believe me, there is a LOT of screaming. From state fairs to big arenas, the whole world is engulfed in robot fighting and turns them into god-like celebrities.
Everybody loves a good robot fight
Cool factor aside, this movie would be nothing with just robots. There’s actually a lot of heart and story packed in here too. The father/son storyline is perfect to coincide with every boy’s dream to own and command a massive robot. Hugh Jackman does a great job keeping the energy up and being a terrible father in this movie but 12-year old Dakota Goyo carries the movie and makes it what it is. He plays Max who is as charismatic as his dad and just wants something or someone to fight for him. Dare I say it, a few audience members will actually tear up in this action-packed fast-paced monstrosity. Not only sniffle, but chuckle, laugh and cheer! Max is pretty darn cute and when he starts dancing with his robot pal, you’ll begin to dance in your seat too. The movie is loud and in your face so obviously the fights are behind some rock music but they also infused some Eminem rap tracks too (the movie was primarily shot in Michigan).
Hugh Jackman and Evangeline Lilly in Real Steel
Evangeline Lilly is your eye candy as she plays Bailey Tallet, Charlie’s long-time love interest and daughter of his old boxing coach. She’s also good with robots for some reason. You meet a few other side characters that add just a little to the movie but not too much to distract you from the major story lines. Kevin Durand is Ricky, one of Charlie’s old boxing opponents turned robot fight promoter and gambler. He’s a southern man with a southern mouth. Anthony Mackie plays Finn, another fight promoter and bet bookie. They come in and out of the movie as Charlie and his boy travel around the country training their robot and picking up fight after fight from venue to venue. Atom, just a Gen 2 sparring-bot, goes through the same journey as an amateur boxer would to reach the main event. From shady underground warehouses to generic brawls to the official World Robot Boxing league matches.
Noisy Boy vs Midas
I enjoyed the movie but it was just an inch away from being larger than life. I didn’t quite draw me into it’s campy kitsch-like world of overindulgent lunatics cheering on metallic warriors. The ending match was actually pretty dull as you realize you’re watching animatronic and computer-generated robots until the very last round. Then the movie piles on all the emotions it can get from this type of fight and uses the overused classic camera tricks to make you cheer along, laugh and scream “YEEEAH!” Did I mention there’s a lot of screaming? It never ends. The blatant product placement was pretty entertaining as well. The robots are run by hp, the kid gets hopped up on Dr. Pepper, the fights are broadcast and commentated by ESPN in the Bing Arena and there are Smart Car advertisements and even a Tesla! Oh, and don’t forget the ad for an Xbox 720
. All in all, Real Steel was a fun, rowdy, technologically advanced fight movie that brings out the inner kid in all of us. Robot Rocky. Rock’em Sock’em Warrior.There are still plenty of ways to score a free advance screening ticket to Real Steel!
Tags: Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Hugh Jackman, Kevin Durand, Real Steel, Shawn Levy
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
