Real Steel: Movie Review

By tvnz.co.nz's Darren Bevan

Published: 12:53PM Wednesday October 05, 2011

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Real Steel

Rating: 6/10

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, A sad faced robot

Director: Shawn Levy

In the not too distant future on earth, robots have taken the place of humans in the boxing ring.

It's in this world we meet Charlie Kenton (Jackman), a former boxer whose glory days are past him and who now spends time using his skills to guide fighting robots in the ring.
Only ridden with debt, Charlie's got a few problems - he's got creditors threatening him, his former girlfriend Bailey (Lost's Evangeline Lilly) is about to lose the family gym because of the debt
Charlie's racked up and to make matters worse, Charlie gets his young son Max dumped on him after his ex-wife dies.

But when Max discovers an old robot and decides his discarded bot will be a fighting champion, Charlie indulges his son and gives him a chance to experience life as a fighter.

However, when Max's robot starts to win, Charlie soon discovers he's got a chance to change his life.

This feel good family flick feels at times like a simple smash em up robot smackdown; a sort of Robot Wars for the new CGI digital age. But at its core, it's an old fashioned tale about the underdog, the broken family and second chances.

Which means some of it feels a little old hat and unoriginal - despite the futuristic setting and blaring heavy metal soundtrack each time the robots fight in the ring, there's something very old fashioned to the story telling.

While it avoids the cliché of the mop haired kid, there's a very real feeling to the relationship between Max and Charlie; Hugh Jackman brings his requisite charm to the role and while there's some cheesy lines in the film (Max tells Charlie at one point: You just throw away anything you don't need), there's a heartfelt warmth underneath.

The robot fight scenes are quite cool to be honest - and will indulge the father/son bonding nature of this flick; and I have to admit to being very impressed by the animatronic robots (but that's the nerd in me coming out).

At the end of the day, Real Steel is a brash and at times noisy affair with a gooey heart deep within and it's certainly going to have limited family appeal.

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