Real Steel

Back and Hitting Hard  after a week off.

This week's film is Real Steel starring Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo.  Hands down this is the best film I've seen so far, I'd rank it at 4.75/5.  I loved the acting, the robots themselves were beautifully created, and most importantly, there was twisted metal and carnage!

The plot is fairly simple: In a near future earth, a down and out boxer reunites with his estranged son and ends up building a boxing robot that goes 5 rounds with the world champ.  Standard plot, typical sci-fi feel with the bots and the little gadgets, and a standard relationship development between estranged father and son.
Standard and overused theme, but it adds to the movie.  The actors pull off the relationship perfectly, and you can almost feel it evolve from the two headstrong boys who want little to do with each other, to a true father-son relationship.

Enough about the sentimental stuff, the movie is really attractive for the same reason as Monster Truck Rallies: there are big things smashing, twisting, and destroying each other.  Its true, the film is mainly a big screen Rock'em Sock'em Robots, it is so much more.  The rendering of the machines rivals the CGI used in Avatar, I had a very hard time believing those robots were not actually constructed and moving around.  Moreover, the fights between the robots were very realistic.  The bots would tear each other apart, to the sound of twisting steel and short circuits.  Everything one wants when two big steel monstrosities collide.

For this film, my only complaint is the strange plot suggestions it introduces.  Twice during the film it was suggested that Jackman's newest robot was self aware: Goyo is talking to it as it watches him, and asks if it can understand him, he then tells the bot 'Your secret is safe with me.'  The second time the bot is left alone in a work room while Jackman and Goyo head out.  The bot is staring into a mirror and the camera zooms like there is something going on inside the bot's mind.
While this is all interesting, the film ends without having elaborated on these instances, whether or not the bot is actually self-aware.  I mean questions and expectations are all well and good, especially since there is a planned sequel to Real Steel, yet this question doesn't play any major part in the film, almost like it was an afterthought and not something that was actually supposed to be in the film.

As always, here's the links to the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.  I don't understand the movie critic mind, this was far and away the best movie I've seen so far, yet they barely rank it above average.  The runtime, for the contested critic, I felt that the runtime was nearly perfect.  Yes it was a little long in the beginning and the introduction of Jackman's son, but after Goyo's arrival, the story gets really good, to the point where I was upset when it ended.
My favorite review of this week is Peter Rainer.  I would agree that the movie should be called Real Steal, I know for a fact that I would have spent $15 - $20 to go see this film, and I would happily do so again!