Recently, there have been a couple of fight flicks that have entered the cineplex ring (so to speak) all vying for the moviegoers to be in their corner.Friday brings Shawn Levy’s REAL STEEL.
Here’s a quick synopsis:
A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, ‘Real Steel‘ stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.
This film is less WARRIOR and TRANSFORMERS and more ROCKY and THE CHAMP…but with ‘bots!
Levy focuses more on making this film about things lost.
Relationships lost ,love lost and fights lost(heck this is a boxing flick after all)
Even though promoted as a film about rock ‘em ,sock ‘em robots…underneath all the real steel,this is a movie about a Father and Son and their journey to build a relationship long lost.
At times the whole teary-eyed kid performance by Goya seemed forced but heartfelt,not his fault (that lays with Levy and the writers) Goya’s future is indeed bright as long as he picks the right properties.Jackman ventures down a road that we don’t see often enough…not since Aronofsky’s THE FOUNTAIN.The dude can act…just given the right project.
Don’t get me wrong …this flick is fun ! It’s not all “You’re the best Dad ever!” kinda movie.The scenes of robots beating the Valvoline outta each other are pretty well played out…not like the blurry vomit enducing metal vs metal orgy that we get from Bay’s TRANSFORMERS.
The flick is fun for the whole family…The Ladies ‘ll love it,not only for Jackman but for the whole FATHER/SON dramarama.
And the Guys will love it cuz…duh,ROBOTS FIGHT!!!
REAL STEEL opens Friday!
’til next time Cabrones!!!
