(Long Island, N.Y.) I don’t get all the hate Real Steel was getting from people prior to its release. Based on its trailers, no one I spoke to or corresponded with online believed the movie could be any good, and I don’t understand why that is. I mean, I thought the commercials looked pretty neat, and Hugh Jackman always brings the goods, so what are the chances it could be bad?
Well, looks like I was proven right…so far, Real Steel has proven to be a hit with both critics and audiences. It’s funny, however…sometimes a trailer will come out that is vastly different from what the finished movie is, and one might speculate that being the case here in regards to why Real Steel is better than many felt the advertising led them to believe. But in this case, the commercials were pretty much spot-on, so I can’t answer that one for you, folks.
Real Steel (while I do like the movie, man, do I hate the title) deftly melds a stereotypical underdog sporting story (this one involving giant boxing robots) with a stereotypical father/son bonding story (this one involving a dad who abandoned his kid), all while leaving no cliché behind. But despite its stunning lack of originality (the end of the movie is an almost carbon-copy of the end of Rocky…well, if Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa were robots, that is), Real Steel manages to turn out an engaging film within those confines that succeeds in being loads of fun, as well as the first movie I’ve seen in years where the crowd actually clapped multiple times. That NEVER happens anymore.
Oh, and this movie is based on a 1956 short story called “Steel” by the great Richard Matheson. Just thought I’d throw that your way.
Anyway, long story short: in 2020, robots have replaced humans in boxing matches, thus spelling the end of the career of “jobber to the stars” Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman). However, after hanging up his boxing gloves, Charlie himself gets into the robo-boxing game, with similar results (i.e., he loses a lot). While accumulating a large amount of debt (scrapped robots tend to do that to your bank account), Charlie finds out that his ex-wife has croaked and he is the sole guardian of his estranged 11-year-old son, Max (Dakota Goyo). Since Charlie has about as much use for Max as Herpes 2, he’s more than willing to sell him to his ex-sister-in-law (don’t ask), provided he babysits the kid while they vacation in Italy first. Seeing dollar signs that will enable him to buy a new robot, Charlie agrees, but for some reason Max is less than thrilled about spending some time with his good ol’ deadbeat dad. Go figure.
Of course, the two hate each other…but they both love robo-boxing, and one night while out scavenging for parts in a junkyard they find an old, discarded boxing robot named “Atom” that actually ends up winning them matches. Oh, and he also dances pretty well for a robot taught by a white boy. Will all this boxing and dancing tomfoolery be enough to mend fences between father and son? And will they get their shot at the champ, or will Charlie screw up his big chance yet again?
Real Steel is a brain-dead movie, but I loved every second of it. There’s seriously nothing wrong with this movie, at least in terms of it stacks up against your typical big-budget blockbuster release. It does everything that you would take any number of similar movies to task for, but does it all so well that you forgive it, and even enjoy it.
It’s really not a movie about robots beating the crap out of each other…at its heart, it’s a movie about a father and son getting mushy with each other, which would usually be instant death in a movie of this type (heck, ANY type), except for the acting talents of our two leads raising the material up several notches. Hugh Jackman plays a total a-hole…he’s actually very unlikable early on (hilariously so), which makes his transition into a better person later on in the movie easier to buy. And somehow a Hollywood casting agent has discovered a kid actor in the form of Dakota Goyo who manages to be a precocious little wise guy without making you want to wring his neck. Amazing.
Oh, and Real Steel is very pretty, too. The CG robots represent probably the best interaction I’ve ever seen between human actors and wire frame-based special effects. It’s pretty much seamless. Oh, and the movie, while just over two hours long, never feels slow or gets boring. It’s perfectly paced, funny, and charming.
Oh, and speaking of charming, let’s not forget Atom, with those great big blue glowing eyes of his. You’ll wince for real every time he takes a hit during a fight, and probably sob tears of joy whenever he overcomes the odds. For real…I’m getting weepy right now just thinking about it.
Basically, Real Steel is like if you crossed Transformers with Big Daddy, but removed all the pain and nausea that you’d find in Michael Bay and Adam Sandler films. So, if you haven’t seen it yet and were waiting anxiously for me to give you permission, it is given. Go and enjoy it, but leave your brain at home…you ain’t gonna need it. But in this case, there’s nothing wrong with that at all.
