“Real Steel” had the potential to be an exciting action film set in the intriguing world of robot boxing. Instead it’s predictable, corny at times and occasionally embarrassing to watch.
Director Shawn Levy is best known for the “Night at the Museum” films. The first one of that series was smart, clever and very original. But outside of the robot boxing world, which we haven’t seen before (even though many of the robots look like Transformers), practically everything in “Real Steel” is borrowed or stolen from other films (think “Iron Giant” meets “Rocky”) and you can see the plot developments coming from a mile away.
The story takes place in the near future (though we’re never told exactly when). Hugh Jackman stars as former professional boxer Charlie Kenton. He now owns robot boxers, but he’s not very successful at it.
Charlie learns that his ex-girlfriend, with whom he had a child, has died. The plan is for the boy named Max (played by Dakota Goyo) to live with his aunt and uncle, but first Charlie has to take him for the summer. Max is a big fan of robot boxing and so together father and son get to know each other as they try to turn an old robot they find named Atom into a champion.
The set-up – getting to the point where the good boxing action takes place – takes way too long. And because the story is so simple and the characters are so one-dimensional we didn’t really need all the build-up. The best part of “Reel Steel” is the actual boxing. The legendary Super Ray Leonard worked as a consultant on the film so he deserves much of the credit. The performances are o.k.. The Max character is a little too over-the-top, bordering on obnoxious at times, but Goyo does his best to keep him likeable. Jackman is solid, though much of the dialogue he’s forced to deliver is pretty cheesy. Evangeline Lilly (TV’s “Lost”) and Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”) lead the supporting cast, but they don’t have much to do.
No, this is a story about a boy, his dad and his robot. Atom is the most realistic-looking of all the boxing robots in the film. The action scenes are all CGI – and they look it. Real robots were used in the scenes where they didn’t have to move too much, including the bonding scenes between Max and Atom which are way too forced with too many close-ups.
“Real Steel” is rated “PG-13” for a surprisingly high amount of adult language. This movie should have been geared to little boys, most of whom have probably dreamed of having a best friend who happens to be a fighting robot. Instead, the rating will force parents to think twice before renting/buying this for their kinds. But it certainly didn’t stop the studio from trying to sell “Real Steel” toys and action figures to any boy of all ages.
On “The Official Kid Critic ‘Score’ Card“, “Real Steel” gets a disappointing C.
Watching “Real Steel” is like watching a championship bout on HBO a week after it’s was shown live on Pay Per View. It’s sort of entertaining, but since you already know what’s going to happen, there’s just no suspense or excitement.