REAL STEEL
BY JAKE MATHISON
October 14th, 2011
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Hope Davis and James Rebhorn
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Written by: John Gatins (screenplay), Dan Gilroy (story), Jeremy Leven (story) and Richard Matheson (concept)
If you don't like Real Steel, you're dead inside. If you don't love Real Steel, you shouldn't go the movies. It's a classic underdog story, and if you choose to embrace it for what it is, there's little doubt you'll remain in its corner.
Director Shawn Levy's (Date Night) Real Steel is very loosely based off a cult-favorite Twilight Zone episode written by legendary sci-fi author Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, Somewhere in Time). And while this new interpretation shares little in common with its predecessor, its essential moral remains the same-- all the nuts and bolts in the world are worthless unless you have the guts and heart to go with them.
Here, the ever-charismatic Hugh Jackman (X-Men) plays a washed-up boxer and deadbeat dad named Charlie Kenton who has run out of chances in life. To make matters worse, it's the not-too-distant future and human boxing has been KO'd, replaced for some years now by robot fighters in the ring. Charlie fights via these robots at county fairs, hustling and gambling his way into a series of bad bets and even deeper debt. He's just about toast when he's informed that his ex-girlfriend (and mother of his child) has died and he has been awarded custody of the son he years ago abandoned. The boy, Max, played by young Dakota Goyo (Thor) is a precocious and witty little punk who immediately reminds Charlie of himself. They spend the majority of the film pretending to have little time and even less use for each other. When Max comes across Atom, an old gen-2 model robot in a junkyard, Charlie reluctantly seizes one desperate last attempt to repair not only his career but also his relationship with his son.
Although Real Steel won't be mistaken for high art any time soon, it's still an ironclad piece of work. There is a populist vibe that runs through its entirety. And for all of its unavoidable hokeyness, it's equally workmanlike. There's nobody paychecking out of this one. This is the silly dream of a child set to screen with the dead seriousness of an adult. And it works. For that reason alone, director Levy deserves a lot of credit. It would have been quite easy to get sloppy with this material, but he doesn't-- the narrative is tight, the cast is steady and the dialogue never clunks. The result is a fast, fun, emotionally charged ride through the backroads of relationships, human and robot alike. Ultimately, the real joy of Real Steel is getting to watch these characters discover their humanity in the most inhuman of places.
3.5/5
Real Steel is rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language
AP Photo
