Real Steel (Dreamworks)
Rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn, Marco Ruggeri, Karl Yune, Olga Fonda.
Written by John Gatins, Dan Gilroy, and Jeremy Leven.
Directed by Shawn Levy.
GRADE: B
REVIEW:
Rock'em, sock'em, and Rocky. ("Yo, Adrian, someone stole my plot.") What happens when you combine cool special effects with robots and your basic little guy shows up the champ story? You get Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman as a down-and-out boxer looking for a robot winner while trying to become the father he should have been.
Jackman plays Charlie, a washed up fighter, who has transitioned into a remote control operator for large robots who fight each other (the film is set in the 2020s, when the public has grown tired of the violence in real boxing or mixed martial arts). Charlie keeps wagering and losing money from his pathetic robots, and turns to his old flame Bailey (Evangeline Lilly) for assistance in putting one more robot together for old time's sake.
As Charlie reaches bottom in his robot boxing career, he discovers that his old girlfriend has died, making him the only living parent to their 11-year-old son Max (Dakota Goyo). Charlie makes a deal with Max's aunt and uncle, who want to keep the boy for the summer so they can take a 3-month vacation to Italy. In return, Charlie gets $50,000 up front and 50 more at the end of the summer, at which he will be rid of the kid who will get to live a life of luxury with his rich relatives.
At first, Charlie does his best to keep Max out of his robot boxing life, but quickly learns the boy is a natural at boxing strategy and finding robot parts. Max eventually finds an old sparring robot in a junkyard named Atom, which Bailey tunes up into a workable fighter. Charlie and Max head out on the road and begin competing and winning in the underground robot boxing circuit. Eventually, Charlie, Max, and Atom get called up to a big time fight where Max runs off at the mouth and calls out the owner and designer of the world champion robot, Zeus.
Max, Charlie, and Atom get their shot at the title just as Max's aunt and uncle return from Italy, threatening his chances of helping his robot in the big title fight.
The big finale fight ends up with a familiar end ("Yo, Adrian!"), as Charlie tries to become the winner and father he always could have been.
Real Steel is a fun movie for kids (my two boys LOVED it), and certainly worth a look for adults, if you can see past the cornball script and silly premise. The worn out "Rocky" storyline feels as old as it is, but you still can't help but be drawn into excitement of the final fight, even though you're pretty sure you know how it's going to end.
While the story is set about 10 years from now, Real Steel turns up the product-placement to a whole new level. Hewlett Packard computers, Cadillacs, Sprint Cell Phones, and ESPN are but a few of the more-than obvious brands displayed prominently. I guess that's expected from a movie that seems tailor-made for a video game roll-out.
The real star of Real Steel is the robot special effects and fight scenes, even though Jackman does an adequate job of holding down the lead. I was more than a little annoyed at the performance of Evangeline Lilly, who cries nearly every time she's on screen, adding to the sappy nature of Real Steel.
Even so, Real Steel is a fun escape for kids who enjoy robots, fighting, and video games. I hear there are a few of those in the world (and certainly a few in my home).
