Review of Real Steel (2011) by Cheyne L — 24 May 2013

At surface value, Disney's latest film 'real steel' take's 'transformers' formula of toy revamping and produces a kid-targeted action flick that is sure to have younger ones on the edge of their seats and cheering for more .

. that said, from a more critical standpoint, I think it's obvious that this film is overly calculated and sticks to tried and true plotting to the point of offending some viewers .. but it's obvious why these formulas were used, and that's because they stick to what works, so there's nothing refreshing about 'real steel', but it's sure to be a crowd pleaser based just on those merits .

. Hugh Jackman plays such a convincing asshole pretty late into the game so one actually begins to wonder if he'll come around, but from the beginning the predictability of the proceeding quickly stamps out any notion that 'steel' won't stick to the game plan .

. we've just seen the "bad-dad-turns-hero" and "underdog-becomes-topdog" too many times to truly commit our feelings to the story .. I had heard worse things about 'real steel', especially many's dislike of Dakota Goyo's performance, which I thought he played pretty well .

. with everyone's talk about the so called 'great' performance from the child actor in "hugo", I thought the kid here in 'steel' actually had a greater range and would have liked to see him in the role of 'hugo' instead of that other kid, whose name I haven't even bothered to learn .

. kids will love it only because they probably haven't seen this formula enough in their shorter lives, but undoubtedly it will be a toss up between more avid movie goers ..