Real Steel
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lily, Anthony Mackie, Hope Davis.
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 4/5
There has been a distressing lack of Hugh Jackman on the big screen this year but he has returned this week with his new movie Real Steel.
The film sees him team up with filmmaker Shawn Levy, in what is his first film since Date Night, as they bring the short story Steel by Richard Matheson to the big screen.
Charlie Kenton (Jackman) is 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) to build and train a championship contender.
As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.
Ok movie fans you should not be put off by this because of the robots - trust me this is not another Transformers; it is so much more than that.
This is like Rocky for robots as well as being a very heart warming movie about a father and son relationship.
This movie looks fantastic and is packed with action and emotion that you cannot be helped but get swept away with it all.
It's the central relationship of Charlie and Max that pushes the movie forward as the are thrust together after the unexpected death of Max's mother.
Charlie doesn't want to be a parent while Max feels lost and unwanted but as the pair hit the road on the underground robot boxing circuit that begin to bring the best our of each other.
It's good to see Jackman back as the down and out Charlie who is desperately trying to hold onto the boxing life that he once had.
He is brought back to life by his son, who is played superbly by Goyo, the spunky kid who is more like his father than either of than dare admit.
And it's great that director Levy has not forgotten the human story for the robots and the CGI - which is quite a refreshing change.
However the robots are simply stunning the CGI is flawless - absolutely superb and I defy you not to root for Atom as the movie goes on.
Real Steel is action packed from the opening scene it's not just a great robot movie - but it is a great movie.
This is a movie about the underdog fighting back against all of the odds, both in and out of the ring, and Levy was brave enough to not give the story the perfect Hollywood ending; which was also a nice touch.
Real Steel is entertaining, visually on the money as well as having a story that tugs at the heart-strings.
Real Steel is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Hugh Jackman