Hollywood has produced plenty of horrible movies with over-the-top cheesy scripts and mediocre acting. But how often can you say that a movie has these two terrible qualities and still manages to completely captivate viewers? Real Steel fits this odd description perfectly.
Real Steel presents us with a world in the near future where the world of human boxing has implemented the use of robots. Boxing fans no longer care about flesh and blood; they've developed a newfound lust for some serious steel-against-steel action. Although this premise sounds ridiculous for the uninitiated viewer, Real Steel quickly dispelled any skepticism: My doubts were pushed aside as I became engrossed in this world.
In the midst of the robot boxing underworld, we find a struggling robot controller named Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman). Charlie is a horrendous money manager, a failure as a father and a lousy friend. For months, he has been drifting around with only millimeters between him and rock bottom. Enter Max Kenton (Dakota Goyo), Charlie's son. When Max ends up in Charlie's hopeless hands for a few weeks, he finds an old sparring robot and decides to train him. The robot - weak, small and dubbed worthless by many - learns how to box from Charlie himself, who used to be a boxer in the pre-robot age. As the relationship between father and son improves, the two team up to produce Atom: a manageable fighting bot and true underdog.
Real Steel is director Shawn Levy's (Just Married, Date Night) first serious attempt at a genre other than comedy. Although Real Steel is Levy's biggest success to date, the film's direction is simply solid - neither dreadful nor jaw-dropping. The acting doesn't drive the film either. Jackman, one of my favorite actors, provides a rather lackluster performance. Goyo, who plays 11-year-old Max, doesn't deliver anything special either. In my opinion, the overall cheesiness of the script overwhelmed the performances of most of the film's characters.
Despite these criticisms, the film stands out for one reason: the robot boxing world. The plethora of corny lines and the bland father-son relationship pales in comparison to the attractiveness of the underdog story. Levy makes an obvious attempt to personify Atom - and whether this gimmick works or not, audiences definitely feel a strong connection to the sparring robot. As Atom progresses through the ranks, so does our investment in his success and the two characters controlling him. Just like any good ol' underdog story, you can't help rooting for the little guy.
The intense fight scenes and intricate special effects only improve this already-attractive element. Real Steel's fight scene cinematography even equals some of the best boxing films. The high-powered soundtrack also weaves wonderfully into the action and provides a great pulse for the boxing. As a whole, though, watching exquisite fighting machines battle it out is simply and purely fun.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
