Rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Anthony Mackie, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand
Director: Shawn Levy
Hugh Jackman is an actor with a seemingly infinite supply of charisma, enough to sell just about any movie premise. What he has in "Real Steel" is the opportunity to do so. He did not have that liberty in the "X-Men" films, as the character of Wolverine was too one-note to ignite our sympathy or interest.
In "Steel" he, along with fellow cast mates Evangeline Lilly and scene-stealing youngster Dakota Goyo, managed to sell me on a premise that had me scratching my head when I first heard of it and made me cringe with impending dread upon viewing the trailer, which looked like a film adaptation of the old Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots game. (Corny, yeah, but if Michael Bay could torture us with an obnoxious movie series based on the Transformers toys, I thought anything was sadly possible.) The premise is inherently goofy, presented as such, and does fall back on various sports, father/son conflict, and science fiction clichés, but the actors make the film work in spite of itself. I was mildly amused by the concept, but I really grew to like these individuals.
The movie is set in the near future where robot boxing has become somewhat of a national obsession. Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a down-on-his-luck former pugilist who now scrapes together some semblance of a living by scouring refuse heaps for scrap metal robots, piecing them together with the help of former flame and gymnasium owner Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly, whose tomboy sex appeal borders on the heavenly) and having them compete for money in seedy competitions. He maintains this lifestyle while attempting to evade various bill collectors bent on procuring money owed.
Charlie’s life takes an unusual turn when he is informed that one of his old girlfriends has passed, and he is to be reunited with an eleven-year-old son named Max (Dakota Goyo) whom he hasn’t laid eyes on during at least ten of those years. Max harbors an inherent distrust of the man who left when he was a baby, and Charlie seems much more interested in getting back into the robot boxing game and paying off some of those debts. (We realize, however, that Charlie’s reluctance to bond with Max is that he doesn’t feel he deserves the love.)
Their relationship gets off to a rocky start, but the boy demonstrates not only an interest in the sport, but a surprisingly keen understanding of the nuances involved in robot boxing. One rainy night he unearths the pieces to an old "sparring robot" in a junkyard, wheels him back to the gym, helps put him together, and asks if Charlie can get him a fight. His father is skeptical, believing the kid’s robot—named Atom—would get destroyed against tougher mechanical beasts. But hey, he has nothing much else keeping him busy, and doesn’t have a bot of his own. He agrees. The plucky, rusted old Atom not only survives in the ring, but actually manages to string together a few wins which garners the attention of those in the professional robot boxing league.
Hugh Jackman’s performance requires him to be likable above all else, as playing a wheeler-and-dealer always necessitates a degree of amiability. (How else could one convince those who should know better to part with their money?) As Max, Dakota Goyo is a lot of fun to watch. The rise of Atom is his doing, and he embraces it. He has two terrific moments; one involves taking the microphone from the announcer following a fight and challenging the top contender—a monolithic mechanical monster named Zeus—to a match; the other has him programming Atom to shadow his movements on sight, then leading the bot to the ring in a funky dance that plays a lot better on screen than the way I make it sound here. Evangeline Lilly may not have the deepest acting range, but she demonstrates a remarkable cognizance of what she’s conveying. A lot of actors struggle with that. She is never caught overplaying any emotion, but gives us just enough to draw us in and make us care. Her performance gives the film a surprising amount of heart.
The movie is loud, colorful, and unapologetically over-the-top. But director Shawn Levy ("Night at the Museum") pulls back just enough so that the characters can gain our interest amidst the mechanical melee surrounding them. The end result is a movie that ended up being more entertaining than it really should have been. Sure, I felt like an idiot for smiling as the credits rolled, but that’s part of the fun.
* * * out of * * * * stars
In "Steel" he, along with fellow cast mates Evangeline Lilly and scene-stealing youngster Dakota Goyo, managed to sell me on a premise that had me scratching my head when I first heard of it and made me cringe with impending dread upon viewing the trailer, which looked like a film adaptation of the old Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots game. (Corny, yeah, but if Michael Bay could torture us with an obnoxious movie series based on the Transformers toys, I thought anything was sadly possible.) The premise is inherently goofy, presented as such, and does fall back on various sports, father/son conflict, and science fiction clichés, but the actors make the film work in spite of itself. I was mildly amused by the concept, but I really grew to like these individuals.
The movie is set in the near future where robot boxing has become somewhat of a national obsession. Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a down-on-his-luck former pugilist who now scrapes together some semblance of a living by scouring refuse heaps for scrap metal robots, piecing them together with the help of former flame and gymnasium owner Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly, whose tomboy sex appeal borders on the heavenly) and having them compete for money in seedy competitions. He maintains this lifestyle while attempting to evade various bill collectors bent on procuring money owed.
Charlie’s life takes an unusual turn when he is informed that one of his old girlfriends has passed, and he is to be reunited with an eleven-year-old son named Max (Dakota Goyo) whom he hasn’t laid eyes on during at least ten of those years. Max harbors an inherent distrust of the man who left when he was a baby, and Charlie seems much more interested in getting back into the robot boxing game and paying off some of those debts. (We realize, however, that Charlie’s reluctance to bond with Max is that he doesn’t feel he deserves the love.)
Their relationship gets off to a rocky start, but the boy demonstrates not only an interest in the sport, but a surprisingly keen understanding of the nuances involved in robot boxing. One rainy night he unearths the pieces to an old "sparring robot" in a junkyard, wheels him back to the gym, helps put him together, and asks if Charlie can get him a fight. His father is skeptical, believing the kid’s robot—named Atom—would get destroyed against tougher mechanical beasts. But hey, he has nothing much else keeping him busy, and doesn’t have a bot of his own. He agrees. The plucky, rusted old Atom not only survives in the ring, but actually manages to string together a few wins which garners the attention of those in the professional robot boxing league.
Hugh Jackman’s performance requires him to be likable above all else, as playing a wheeler-and-dealer always necessitates a degree of amiability. (How else could one convince those who should know better to part with their money?) As Max, Dakota Goyo is a lot of fun to watch. The rise of Atom is his doing, and he embraces it. He has two terrific moments; one involves taking the microphone from the announcer following a fight and challenging the top contender—a monolithic mechanical monster named Zeus—to a match; the other has him programming Atom to shadow his movements on sight, then leading the bot to the ring in a funky dance that plays a lot better on screen than the way I make it sound here. Evangeline Lilly may not have the deepest acting range, but she demonstrates a remarkable cognizance of what she’s conveying. A lot of actors struggle with that. She is never caught overplaying any emotion, but gives us just enough to draw us in and make us care. Her performance gives the film a surprising amount of heart.
The movie is loud, colorful, and unapologetically over-the-top. But director Shawn Levy ("Night at the Museum") pulls back just enough so that the characters can gain our interest amidst the mechanical melee surrounding them. The end result is a movie that ended up being more entertaining than it really should have been. Sure, I felt like an idiot for smiling as the credits rolled, but that’s part of the fun.
* * * out of * * * * stars
