Real Steel Review

By Euan Campbell

Plot:-

After a series of bad decisions and unfortunate luck, Charlie (Hugh Jackman- X-Men, Swordfish, The Prestige) a Robot Boxing trainer finds himself having to look after his son Max (Dakota Goya) whom he abandonded as a child. Together they stumble across an old Training Bot and go about trying to get back in the game in tough and brutal sporting arena.

Review:-


Sports movies as a dime-a-dollar in modern day cinema, some are good (Remember The Titans, Coach Carter), some are bad (Tin Cup), and some are downright awful (The Longest Yard). Real Steel comes into this much treaded arena with a new premise, Boxing with Robots.


Now there are many things that can be said about this movie, about the script and and cheesy characters (Kevin Durand for example playing a stereotypical texan who's owed money by Charlie) and a lot of it would not be particularly positive. In my opinion though all of this can be overlooked because Real Steel is just so much bloomin' fun.

It has everything you need for a popcorn movie. It is well paced and balances the robot action with some nice human moments, with Hugh Jackman living up to his 'nicest man in hollywood' reputation once again. Even when he's being arrogant and cocky, you cant help but like Charlie. The interplay between Jackman and Goya, though occasionally a bit awkward, carries the story well, and is for the most part believable.

As for the action, it does not disappoint. Unlike recent robot based movies (i'm looking at you Michael Bay) the action is this delivered in a way that you know exactly what's going on, and who is who in the fights. Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard should take a lot of credit for this, he spent a lot of time coaching the effects crew and cast on how these fights woshould work.

The special effects  and animatronics crews have done a stellar job making each of the contenders look real, while still bringing entertainment value as they get torn apart in the ring!

As with every sports movie, this one is full of cliches, but hey, thats ok!

In conclusion Real Steel is not a masterpiece by any means, nor is it 'Rocky with Robots' as some people have tagged. It is however extremely entertaining and I left the cinema with a huge grin on my face, and I'm still wearing it now.

8/10