Review: REAL STEEL

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!!!

Gary

Gary “El Boy” Deocampo provides insightful profiles & reviews with his own original tongue-in-cheek, macabre, fan-boy style.

Gary was born in the City of Angels and raised on a healthy diet of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery, The Hammer Horror Films, and his favorite, Universal Studio’s Monster Movies.

But alas, it was a film that was released in the winter of 1973, where his love and perception of all things Horror would personally change him forever. William Friedkin’s, The Exorcist was that film. To this day The Exorcist still gives him the heebie-jeebies.

Presently, his affinity for the horror genre has broadened and spans the globe. His love and appreciation for director’s Takashi Miike (Audition) and Chan-Wook Park (Old Boy) from the Far East to Sweden’s Tomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In) to his favorite, Mexico’s very own Guillermo del Toro (Cronos, Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth).

In his spare time he likes to exercise and/or exorcise his inner demons. The little devil still resides in the City of Angels, in a suburb founded by Puritans (!) with his lovely and patient wife, his two equally lovely and patient children, two hounds and his pet Cthulhu.