REAL STEEL REVIEW (Minor Spoilers)

Sock'em robots the movie

THE MOVIE: CRITIC'S TAKEThe trailer for this movie was indeed an eye opener. The special effects seemed decent and real enough to pass off as something legit. The story itself wasn't impressive but still stands out among the rest. I was excited to see this film because not a lot of blockbuster movies come out in October. I was not expecting this film to disappoint and I'm glad it lived up to my expectations. Still for some reason I was not satisfied.

STORY

The story begins like all other weird films. A drunk loser of a father named Charlie, played by Hugh Jackman, is having a hard time in life due to the fact that he wasted a good portion of it gambling in illegal boxing. Not just any boxing but robot boxing. Like the idiot that he is he places another bet on his robot and loses. He is now in debt for $20,000 to a loan shark named Ricky, played by Kevin Durand. He does what every coward would do and that's run away but he is now facing a dilemma. The mother of his child has died and is now left with his son Max, played by Dakota Goyo. Things are not looking good for Charlie.

Asshole

His aunt and uncle wants the boy and Charlie agrees but only if they pay him $100,000 and half of it has to be upfront. They agree but only if he takes care of Max for three months. At this point I started to feel that the poor kid was being sold into slavery or worse. This proves to be a good move for Charlie because he teaches the boy how to gamble and fix robots. Luckily Max is all game for his dad's amazing life and even finds him a brand new robot, by means of near death experience of course.

I will break you

They name him Atom and quickly gets him into fights. One problem...  Atom is merely a piece of crap. It was built to take punishment not give it. Charlie has to give it voice commands and teach it how to box so they can make money off of it. It proves to work for sometime until the loan sharks catch up to Charlie and gives him a beating of his life. That wasn't his only worry. Max's aunt and uncle wants the boy and Atom is preparing for the fight of its robot's life. How will Charlie overcome all this angst and prevail? Go watch the movie and find out... or now a days go here.

ACTING

The acting was decent at best. I didn't feel a father and son connection with the two actors given. Hugh played the playful father and a deadbeat nicely. I did like how he got along with Evangeline Lily in this film and the boys aunt and uncle. You could feel the tension where ever they popped on screen. Overall the acting isn't too bad and will be acceptable to most.

Hottie

SPECIAL EFFECTS

This is where the movie excels. I like the in your face action and the look of the movie. It's the distant future but it still looked like it could have happened today. The fights were great to see and who knew that the robots could express emotion that way. If you want to see a hard hitting movie this is for you.



WRITING AND DIRECTING


The film was directed by Shawn Levy and Written by John Gatins. The story flows nicely and the dialog seemed presentable. I wasn't too impressed with the whole story but I had to remember it is a science fiction movie about fighting robots. I think I could let it slide for now. The directing was pretty good as well but the in your face action gave me a headache. He did well but I don't think too many movie goers are ready for that kind of action.

THE END


Overall the movie is a must see. It has great action and a decent story. It's defintely worth a date movie or a buddy movie with a good friend. I can even see people coming back for seconds. Afterall what else is there to see in the theaters?

O that's right!

OVERALL

STORY - 5 out of 10
ACTING - 6 out of 10
SPECIAL EFFECTS - 8 out of 10
WRITING - 5 out of 10
DIRECTING - 7 out of 10

OVERALL 6 out of 10 (GIVE IT A TRY)