Real Steel
(2011)Sci-fi actioner set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech. From director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Date Night).... More
Hugh Jackman (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) stars as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo, Thor) to build and train a championship contender.Hide
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Directed by Shawn Levy
Starring Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, James Rebhorn, Marco Ruggeri, Karl Yune, Olga Fonda
Written by John Gatins, Jeremy Leven, Leslie Bohem, Dan Gilroy (based on the short story 'Steel' by Richard Matheson)
On Demand, DVD & Blu-Ray
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Real Steel
BY alpheta lister
Hugh Jackman does his thing, with heart and energy, and only just manages to not be upstaged by the actor playing his son, who does a fantastic job. This movie is great fun, and deals lightly but convincingly with some emotional issues, without being ponderous or too adult.
The robot is imbued with enough pretend personality to evoke our sympathy, and there's not a moment of guilt at being drawn into a fantasy world, gunning for the underdog. Tons of fun for the whole family.
BY GrahamP superstar
A good bonding movie between a father and son.The son finds an old fighting robot then they improve it to take on the best in the boxing ring.It is set in the future only a few years from now.It feels real and not out of place for our times.An enjoyable 2 hours spent.
BY JayC4Shaw superstar
I admit, the lines at times were laughable, the kid seemed bratty at times and not to mention they shot animal cruelty at the beginning, HOWEVER, it is worth a few cringes every now and then for the build up to the end. the david versus goliath battle was epic, and very good. So if you want a father learns to love his son film, and david faces off with goliath, you will enjoy this movie, at the end and feel it was worth it!
BY Foose wannabe
I was pleasantly surprised by this one! Fairly predictable story but awesome visual FX and they used some good old fashioned animatronics! I really liked hugh jackman's character. Very believable. To any parents out there, don't listen to GERD. I'd rather have my kids watching some father-son bonding with fighting robots than watching some singing chipmunks any day of the week.
BY fiesolem nobody
Showing 5 of 8 reviews. See all reviews
The Press Reviews
60%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Real Steel is a family movie and was a surprisingly feel-good watch. Full Review
Real Steel is a real movie. It has characters, it matters who they are, it makes sense of its action, it has a compelling plot. This is the sort of movie, I suspect, young viewers went to the "Transformers" movies looking for. Full Review
The robot fight scenes are brutal, the emotions are big and obvious, and yet I liked Real Steel a lot. It's a good natured film, made with some wit and flair. If I were 12 years old again, I'd probably think it just about the best film I'd ever seen. Full Review
This story of a washed-up boxer's redemption through robot boxing is made of nothing but recycled parts. Full Review
Real Steel is a heartfelt and often stirring father-son tale with a high-concept premise -- robot boxing -- that works far better and plays out less ludicrously than you might expect. Full Review
As it happens, this recycled reclamation of underdogs saga is neither as bad as it sounds nor quite as good as it could be. Full Review
An underdog drama with clanging metal-on-metal action, Real Steel feels scientifically programmed to claw at your heart while its battling robots, which have a semblance of human personality, drum up your adrenaline. That said, I'm not sure that the movie itself has more than a semblance of a heart. Full Review
The uncanny thing about Real Steel is just how gripping the fight scenes are; Sugar Ray Leonard served as a consultant to the motion-capture performers responsible for pantomiming the machines' moves. Full Review
The uncanny thing about Real Steel is just how gripping the fight scenes are; Sugar Ray Leonard served as a consultant to the motion-capture performers responsible for pantomiming the machines' moves. Full Review
BY Dominic Corry Flicks Writer
If Steven Spielberg’s name didn’t pop up in the opening credits of Real Steel as Executive Producer, it wouldn’t be too hard to discern his involvement. The entertainment titan’s trademark absentee-father themes are at the core of the film and watching them play out yet again can be exhausting.... More
But this movie is aimed at kids (more so than I had anticipated) and it’s hard to imagine them not having a grand ol’ time, especially during the plentiful scenes of bonding between Hugh Jackman’s character’s estranged son (played by Jake Lloyd lookalike Dakota Goyo) and Atom, the sparring robot they train to be a promising fighter.
The CGI depicting the wide variety of nicely-designed robots is more or less flawless, and the film sparks to life whenever they’re on screen. The character development and emotional conflict, however, is bog-standard.
Jackman is competent but kinda sterile in the lead role, bringing little personality to the film. Goyo proves an engaging young actor, and no doubt an appealing surrogate for the film’s target audience. A story thread which sees him hip hop dancing with Atom before every fight pushes the film in a peculiar song and dance direction, but it’s an undeniably unique sight.
Aside from this, Real Steel is probably a little too generic (and long) to win over a grown-up audience rendered blasé about movie robots by the Transformers movies, but kids should respond well to its finely calibrated wish-fulfilment story.Hide
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