Summer Season has been and gone so perhaps it was a strategic decision to release Real Steel in a cold and damp October spot and avoid the summer mêlée.
PLOT: Charlie (Hugh Jackman) is a down and out robot fighter who inherits his estranged eleven year old son Max (Dakota Goyo) after the child's mother dies. Charlie and Max don’t get along or care about one another until they stumble upon an old robot named Atom. Father and son fix and fight the robot on the underground scene until they hit the big league and ultimately challenge the undefeated world champion Zeus. END PLOT
The plot of Real Steel is not original in any way, shape or form as there is not a cliché left unused or a single surprise in the entire film. It has everything from father/son drama, training montages and a good old fashioned underdog story……saying that even though the film was completely lacking in originality it was very well executed.
Hugh Jackman didn’t stretch himself too far and although Charlie was pretty unlikeable for early part of the film his charm and charisma saw him through and in he same vein Dakota Goyo didn’t stray into annoying child actor territory. Jackman and Goyo had good chemistry as the father/son team.
The supporting cast were made up of Evangeline Lily, Kevin Duran and Anthony Mackie and all were fine with what little they were given to do. Anthony Mackie is clearly just waiting for that one big role to boost his career and bring him into the spotlight and I hope it comes sooner rather than later.
I know nothing about boxing but recently I have seen my fair sharing of boxing movies and without fail I become totally invested in them and Real Steal was no different. The robot fights, although slightly silly in its premise, were all very well staged with a good mix of special effects and real robots.
A lot of effort was spent giving the robots individual personalities and with Atom, like Bumblebee, it was through his eyes and facial movements that I fell in love with him.
Real Steel is a clever film in that doesn’t attempt to rewrite the rulebook but has instead decided to strictly adhere to it from cover to cover and the final product turned out to be a very solid film.
The kids I took to see Real Steel (8 and 11) hailed it as the best film ever! I cannot give the film this accolade but Real Steel was a very enjoyable cinema experience and it gets a strong 8/10. In terms of longevity it wont end up in my dvd collection but if the kids are staying and want to put their copy on I wont be too upset.
After reading this I will most probably wait for it to come out on DVD...
ReplyDeleteIt is actually a very good cinema experience - the robots etc look amazing on the big screen
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading.
K :-)
Rock Em Sock Em Robots ... Next up is Battleship and then Candy Land followed by Clue .... Good review Karina as always I saw this thursday night and it was good but you really cannot fault anything badly because of Hugh Jackman's charm and wit...But Evangeline Lilly was stiff and horrible actress, Too soon for her to rise to the next level but a good flick otherwise
ReplyDeleteI kinda figured it being geared more towards kids. Good review.
ReplyDeleteJohn: I thought Lily was fine - her role was very much the typical girlfriend role which required her to do very little. Anyone could have played the part but I doubt a stronger actress would have faired any better
ReplyDeleteD: I knew it was child friendly before I went but it was very child friendly!
Thanks for reading guys :-)
Ooooo porr you Winter is a lurking!! and yet spring has sprung in Nz! This is actually my most favortie time of year here!!
ReplyDeleteI was not impressed at all by the trailers to this. But how often are they a poor portrayel of the movie itself. I like Hugh Jackman so I may have to reappraise my decision to avoid, avoid, avoid!!
Lucky you!! We don't get warm weather at the best of times but the sun has pretty much left us now lol!
ReplyDeleteReal Steel is a very good cinema watch if you aren't looking for anything too testing. I thought is was fun but it wasn't lasting fun!
I've pretty much disregarded this film but I keep reading all these good reviews! Might have to give it a whirl on video.
ReplyDeleteIt was surprisingly good fun - nothing new or ground breaking but it did the job
ReplyDelete