Real Steel

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn, Karl Yune, Olga Fonda
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Drama, Science Fiction
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A washed up boxer (Hugh Jackman) is reluctantly reconnected with his estranged son (Dakota Goyo). The two set out with a robot boxer, hoping it can change their luck and their fate.

Review:

Tim: When I first saw Real Steel in theaters, I thought it was a good movie that was a bit too cheesy and sentimental for its own good. The second time I watched it, though, I appreciated it a lot more. Yes, there's some occasionally cheesy moments, especially between Hugh Jackman and his son. However, the story has a pretty powerful message, and we occasionally need sentiment. This movie is really, really good.

I could probably claim that Real Steel is the greatest robot boxing movie ever made (I'd love to be proven wrong, though). The movie takes place in the near future, which is important, because it allows us to still identify with the world and those in it. The only real difference is that human boxers have been replaced with robot boxers. That's not as outlandish as you might think, especially with the growing concern over head injuries in sports like American football. It would be legitimately fun to see giant, multi-ton robots fighting to the "death".

Those robot boxing scenes work because of some pretty cool special effects. The robots were motion-captured to increase the believability, and it looks pretty incredible. The robots are really something to behold. I'm glad that the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. It deserved it.

In a robot boxing movie, I didn't expect the story between the humans to be so interesting. We have Hugh Jackman as a washed up boxer, a "bad bet" who can't get out of his own way to be successful. He plays this role beautifully- the selfish, egotistic yet charismatic fighter who's constantly fighting everything around him. His world is turned upside down when his son is thrust back into his life. Their dynamic is incredibly fun to watch. There is definitely a lot of tension between them, but it's enjoyable to see the similarities develop as well. The father-son story is the emotional core, and despite the occasional cheesiness, it works.

The boxing is very well choreographed. I felt a bit mixed on how this film paid homage to previous boxing movies and events. On the one hand, I love that this movie channeled films like Rocky and fights like "The Rumble in the Jungle". On the other hand, there wasn't a whole lot of originality. The movie follows Rocky a little too closely and makes heavy use of the rope-a-dope technique. I suppose that's not a fatal flaw, but it did create a bit of a seen-this-all-before feeling to the movie. Luckily, the fact that we get to see giant robots boxing each other removes this feeling pretty quickly.

Real Steel is an inspiring underdog story, and that's always fun to watch. It would have been easy to let the huge robots steal the spotlight, but director Shawn Levy wisely makes sure our human protagonists are always the main focus. I had a really fun, enjoyable time with this movie. Sure, it's not perfect, but it is really good.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Rocky