Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Real Steel

Real Steel is a 2011 American science fiction action film starring Hugh Jackman and co-produced and directed by Shawn Levy. The film is based in part on the 1956 short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson, though screenwriter John Gatins placed the film in U.S. state fairs and other "old-fashioned" Americana settings. Real Steel was in development for several years before production began on June 11, 2010. Filming took place primarily in the U.S. state of Michigan. Animatronic robots were built for the film, and motion capture technology was used to depict the brawling of computer-generated robots and animatronics. Real Steel was publicly released in Australia on October 6, 2011, and in the United States and Canada on October 7, 2011, to mixed reviews. It was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 84th Academy Awards. [Wikipedia]

Synopsis: In 2020, human boxers have been replaced by robot boxers. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a former boxer who fights with such boxing robots - in both sanctioned and unsanctioned battles.
Besides some swearing and the obvious violence this is a clean movie about a father who didn't really want a son, and had money trouble, but after spending a summer together fighting with robots they formed a bond. [KnightlySamurai]

Review by:
This movie had been on my "To Watch" list for quite awhile, and I've finally gotten to watch it! Which is surprising because I don't normally like boxing, but I like robot fighting flicks so I'm good. ;-D
I was actually expecting it to be a little different when I had watched the trailer. I had thought the robots were from further in the future and almost completely autonomous - but had to be taught how to box (like Zeus, but with Atom's training needed), so it would be more about how they were trained than how they were programmed, like real boxers. I'm sure after the fight at the end that would become the new trend, haha.

One of the downsides of this movie has to do with the plot, being that the ending is a sort of cliffhanger! You don't get to see what happens, and I much expected to see a redesigned and shiny Atom walking about at the end, too. lol. Oh well.
Another is that Atom seems to sometimes be mimicking and sometimes mirroring Charlie's moves (Atom is fighting Zeus right handed, while Hugh Jackman is left-handed). I guess it doesn't matter, though who knew that Wolverine was a lefty?? Haha. He didn't look like Wolverine, either, without more hair.

"The People's Champion? Sounds pretty good to me"

What's it rated? PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language (one or two uses of the s word, and some other minor expletives).
What do I rate it? A solid 8 1/2 out of 10 overall - which could have been 9 if they added a bit more oomph to the fights and CGI, as well as put in a better looking ending.
Would I watch it again? Maybe, but only if I was watching with someone who hadn't watched it.


1 comment:

  1. Great review. I liked this. Not my favorite movie of the year but probably rank on the lower Top 10. :)

    -James

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