Real Steel Film Review

@Gateway Cinema 5 w/D Oct13,2011

Director: Shawn Levy

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lily, Hope Davis

Real Steel tells the story of Charlie Kenton played by Hugh Jackman who travels around with his fighting robots in tow. It is loosely based on the short story by Richard Matheson entitled Steel where fighting robots are the new form of entertainment through the sport of boxing.

While Charlie is on the road, he received bad news about the death of his old beau leaving him an 11-year old son named Max who now needs a guardian. He was then summoned to attend the custody hearing of his son whom he willingly gave to his sister-in-law in exchange of $100,000. His sister-in-law’s husband offered him half the money to take care of Max while they were on vacation. Charlie agreed and took Max with him who proves to be a very strong-willed kid and whose love for video games helps train his robots and Atom, a sparring robot found by Max in a junkyard and successfully fielded it into the World Robot Boxing Championship.

Dakota Goyo who played Max was an absolute darling on the big screen. His immense passion was clearly established with his relationship to Atom. I thought the dancing scenes were funny and it gives you that giggling feeling about the kid that served as an appetizer to an impending good fight, sort of like waiting for a Manny Pacquiao versus a Mexican boxer bout.

Hugh Jackman really delivered his role’s full potential. There were pretty touching moments that simply do magic into the film’s action-packed sequences. These sequences are well executed, as they do not exaggerate real battles but conform into the flow of the film.

The support was also impressive coming from Charlie’s love interest Bailey (played by Evangeline Lily) and his sister-in-law played by Hope Davis.

Another good thing about this film is that it has a vision. The cohesive storyline made it an enduring two-hour flick; you won’t even notice that it was that long. It was a normal story that does not need any twists or shocking scenes to lure you into watching it. It simply is just about robots and the father and son relationship. It may be the result of excellent special effects or good cinematography or maybe even good soundtrack but it boils down to the fact that it was one heck of a film that surely adults and kids alike would enjoy.

My Rating: 9/10

This film review was first posted at Pinoy Exchange. Read all my film reviews at Pinoy Exchange Official PEx Movie Reviews.

-paddylast