Courage is Stronger Than Steel.
For those of you out there who are fans of I Am Legend, you may want to take a look at this (if you haven't already seen it). Real Steel, released in the US on October 6, 2011 by Touchstone Pictures and DreamWorks pictures is (loosely) based on a short story titled Steel, which was written by Richard Matheson, the same guy who wrote the story that became I Am Legend.
I just recently watched this with my fiancée (whom I love for watching a movie about big robots with me) and I (read, we) were blown away. I'll give you the lowdown on the plot here.
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║ SPOILER ALERT!! ║
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Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is an ex boxer who now fights robots, albeit not that well. After losing a bet, he finds out that his ex-girlfriend is dead and that her sister wants custody of his son, Max (Dakota Goyo), who is now 11. Charlie agrees to give up custody (a rather large douche-move, in my opinion) on the condition that Max stays with him for the summer.
While scrounging through a junkyard for parts to repair Charlie's bots after yet another defeat, Max finds an old sparring robot that doesn't look like much. After getting the bot to where they can look at it, they find out that Atom (the bot's name), is different. So, they fix him up and start fighting him in underground, unsanctioned (yes, there is a robot fight league, called the WRB) fights. Their streak of wins garners them attention from the World Robot Boxing league, where they have the chance to fight against some of the best bots in the world.
While scrounging through a junkyard for parts to repair Charlie's bots after yet another defeat, Max finds an old sparring robot that doesn't look like much. After getting the bot to where they can look at it, they find out that Atom (the bot's name), is different. So, they fix him up and start fighting him in underground, unsanctioned (yes, there is a robot fight league, called the WRB) fights. Their streak of wins garners them attention from the World Robot Boxing league, where they have the chance to fight against some of the best bots in the world.
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║ END OF SPOILERS ║
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Due to the ending and how the plot is so similar to other boxing movies (without the robots, of course), Real Steel gets a near perfect 8 star rating. If you haven't yet seen it, I highly reccommend it. It's a good movie that can appeal to both men and women, yet the PG-13 rating allows it to succeed with the younger audience as well. You can get it through Netflix on DVD, and through Amazon Instant Video. I leave you with this* →
Enjoy.
Overall, the movie is pretty good. You have big, 1,000+ pound robots beating up on each other, a father-son bit, and an overarching underdog tale. In some ways, Real Steel is a lot like Rocky. If you watch the movie, you'll get where I'm coming from on that. That being said, there are a few scenes where you may cringe a bit, and the ending left a bit to be desired, but that's to be expected from a movie that has a prospective sequel in the works.
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| Real Steel garners a respectable 8 star rating |
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| Max & Atom Dancing |
Enjoy.
*Credit for gif goes to gifs-planet.com
Have an idea for a review?
I'm glad that you put a big spoiler sign, or else I would have continued reading. We currently have this from Love Film; the Wife was dubious, but I've assured her that I've heard good things about it (she was equally dubious of Tucker and Dale Vs Evil but thought it was hilarious). We'll probably watch it this weekend, and then I can come back and read your review!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that you appreciate a good Spoiler Tag.
ReplyDeleteAfter you watch it, come on back and let us know what you thought of it. I'd love to hear your input.
I've finally seen this and really enjoyed it. I was impressed that the focus of the film was on Max and Charlie rather than big robots battering each other. I'm working on my review just now.
ReplyDelete