Review of Real Steel (2011) by Brian D — 24 Jun 2013

Although it employs (read wallows) in just about every film cliché EVER, this film, set in the near future has enough cool CGI and an underdog mentality to make it passing entertainment; but oh those clichés! From sappy strings in the Danny Elfman score, swelling whenever something heartfelt is perceived; to the entire Dad gets forced to interact with abandoned son, and how they go through rough patches to eventually bond - this one has it all.

There's the faithful female role - you know, where there's a hint that there once was a relationship in the sack, but god forbid you let the kiddies in on that secret! So now she's just the faithful sidekick, supporting her man for no good reason and sweetly sighing at his latest failed attempt at being a man (or whatever).

There's the obligatory bit of action/drama that takes place in the rain, providing proof that the wethead is NOT dead.

There's the slimy woman villain, who of course has a thick Russian accent (nevermind that if it wasn't for her and her money the whole boxing enterprise that everyone is so enamored with wouldn't exist - just sayin'), plus a serious bit of stereotyping in which all the cool tech stuff and those who use em are Japanese.

And yet.... The film is somehow worth watching - kind of like Rocky IV - you know what's coming and yet want to root for the knuckleheads just the same. Of course there's the acting, especially that of lead knucklehead Hugh Jackman. He's competent in a stumbling, bumbling kind of way, but I couldn't help feeling that the script covered for him - letting him slide away from any serious acting, the same as in all those 80's Arnold films.

Stealing the film is the cherub cheeked Dakota Goyo who plays Jackman's son - a smart ass 11 year old who feels equally comfy spouting lines too wise for his age or giving those big doe eyed looks when he feels vulnerable.

The film also has some horrendously obvious bits of product placement by HP, but heck, ya gotta pay the bills somehow, otherwise how are you going to pay the cinematographer? And speaking of which, the film starts out with a nice bit of cinema, seeing the lights of a county fair through the windshield of Jackman's truck - but then, in the most distasteful bit of filming, the script introduces the whole fight bot concept by having Jackman's worn bot take on a fer real bull - not funny and almost made me want to turn the film off... in spite of the fact that the bot's movements were fun to watch.

And really, this film is really about the action - just like Rocky IV - forget the lame sub plot and, even though the story is a bit predictable, the CGI generated fighting bots are uber cool. For this aspect alone I give the film a marginal passing grade - it ain't Shakespeare, heck, it isn't even original other than the idea of robots prize fighting, but for those cool fighting scenes and some pretty snazzy looking bots, you could do worse.