Review of Real Steel (2011) by Hoops2448 — 06 Jan 2012

Real Steel is a unique premise. Boxing has been stopped in favour of robot boxing and Hugh Jackman's Charlie is just trying to keep up. Along the way he is joined by the son he abandoned 9 years earlier.

He is joined by him because his mother has died so he takes him on the road, showing him the world of robot boxing. The problem with this unique premise is that it never really makes sense. The script sweeps under the rug some major plot points (The death of the son's mother is mentioned literally once) and is packed with clunky lines and exposition.

The cast is sub par with the worst offender being either Evangeline Lilly as Charlie's love interest Bailey or Dakota Goyo as Charlie's son Max who is remarkably reminiscent of young Anakin Skywalker (yes, its that bad).

Jackman coasts through the movie on charm despite the fact his character really is reprehensible at times. However the action in the film is visually flawless with some great animation and effects with the robot fights being great to watch.

The main problem with the film is that the main story doesn't start for a whole hour (much like S.W.A.T) as Charlie makes mistake after mistake. I get that its trying to show what kind of a man Charlie is but its just slow and pointless and could have been done in half the time.