Real Steel

Watched this over the weekend and it was because of the word-of-mouth reviews.

When first saw the previews I had no interest in it. A movie about robots boxing just didn't work for me. And I was surprised that Hugh Jackman was "slumming" for it. Even having Evangeline Lilly wasn't enough to tempt me.

Then I heard the line "It's Rocky with Robots" and that got me interested enough to learn more. And I'm glad I did.

It's not a great movie, but it is damn good. The boxing robots is actually the subplot really, the background. Instead of Rocky think of another Stallone movie: Over The Top, and you have what Real Steel is.

It's the story of a down-on-his-luck loser of a father trying for redemption with the son he barely knows. There's even the rich family that will care for the boy when Dad passes him on. It's been years since seen Over The Top, so not sure how many story beats are the same, but there's enough.

That's not to say that Real Steel is a total carbon copy. It's just similar. And similar movies can exist on their own as their own entities.

The strength of Real Steel is in Jackman's work, but especially in the actor that plays his son, Dakota Goyo. Both carry the story and lift it beyond the confines of a "robot boxing movie" and make it heartwarming and emotional.

My girlfriend had tears.

The only thing I didn't like was the ending. It ends with them in their "victory" (I won't spoil it, but the "victory" was perfect for this movie and ending it the other way would just have ruined the whole thing) and I really wanted to know what happens to Charlie and Max after this. What is their relationship like?

This movie, unlike so many others in the same vein (parent finding an unknown/forgotten child), actually made you buy the growing relationship between the two. After all, all Max wanted was for Charlie to fight for him, and all Charlie needed was something to fight for.

4 out of 5