Review of Real Steel (2011) by Chris O — 09 Nov 2016

When you peer through the semi-impressive visuals, this movie ultimately melts down to an inconsistent and generic flick.

Set years into the future, the phenomenon of robot boxing has taken over the world. In one of the most exciting sports, we follow the story of Charlie Kenton, a former pro-boxer. As he tries to make a living fighting robots, he eventually gets stuck with his 11-year old son, left to him from his deceased ex. The two have to learn to work together as they each try and create a relationship between Father and son.

I've watched this movie a few times now, and sadly, it's progressively lost its spark through each watch through. As I also grow older, it becomes increasingly easier to see past the glitz and glamour, viewing this as a highly flawed and mostly generic film. There's nothing really special about this movie, and it's not even worth devoting your attention to. There are plenty more impressive boxing movies out there, and although this film has a unique attribute to it, I don't think its enough to justify sitting there for two hours.

If you're looking for a quality Hugh Jackman movie, well, this isn't it. Besides the lackluster screenplay and almost laughable dialogue, I don't really like his performance in this movie. His character wasn't very likable, and he was much less redeemable than you'd hope. He spends most the movie showing off his anger issues and arrogant personality, which causes more troubles than it actually solves. Dakota Goyo is good in his role, but his character is just ridiculous. His character definitely comes off as a whiny know-it-all, which really creates some head scratching moments. And keep in mind, this is coming from someone who actually really liked the kid character in "The Babadook".

The visuals were fairly impressive for the most part. I mean, some of the robots look really cool and its a fun movie overall. The premise is fun and the visuals look good enough. They're not the best but they definitely don't compromise the experience at all. When robots are fighting, it looked like real robots were fighting. If there's one thing you can count on, it's a supply of solid visuals and decent actions sequences.

The screenplay and the story were amateur at most. There is really nothing original about the plot and the character arks are nearly non existent. There are a lot of inconsistencies throughout the film that make you question what's going on, and the chain of events either have plot holes or are poorly written.

In the end, "Real Steel" is a decent time, but not if you're looking for anything more than some basic eye candy and robot fights.