Cast: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly and Dakota Gayo
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3.5/5
REAL STEAL is the REAL DEAL!
By Priyanka Ketkar
So many movies on boxing, so many movies on human-robot relationship but nothing like this one till date… Yes, REAL STEEL by director Shawn Levy brings to us something that we have never seen before; boxing fights between robots.
The movie is set in the future where either humans have become very lazy or the fights started getting so severely intense that humans are replaced in the boxing matches with robots. What is the point in watching such a fight? Metal banging against metal; steel against steel…so even if a machine gets "killed", what’s the big deal, right? Well, while machines are getting “killed” if you hear "oohh-aaah...careful, common on, fight back, etc..." in the cinema hall, then that is some achievement. Real Steel will do that to you...it will really make you squirm in your seat and freak out when your favourite robot is getting kicked.
Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), once upon a time, a top-class boxer is struggling today to earn a living through the robot fights. Charlie is so determined to the level of being obsessed to buy the world's strongest main-league robot boxer that he even strikes a very expensive deal and gives-up the custody of his son Max (Dakota Goyo) in exchange for the big bucks. But the deal also says that Charlie has to take care of Max for a month before his aunt and uncle who have adopted him take charge of him. Now I guess any child with a dad who has robots will definitely want to hang around with his dad even if that dad has behaved absolutely irresponsibly and even sold his son in exchange of a robot. Well Max wants to spend time with his dad on the roads and in the matches rather than staying in one place with his dad's best friend, philosopher, guide and girl friend Baillet Tallet (Evangeline Lilly). (Baillet and Charlie romance is an obvious part of the story but it doesn't feel unnecessary). Now, while looking for some spare parts to rebuild a robot, Max comes across an old, battered robot. He carries this robot- ATOM home and now it is his robot forever. Atom has a very quick flight up his way to success and this brings some hope in Charlie regarding his future. The future is definitely bright (has to be or else there is no story there). The outcome of the boxing match in the end is no different from the regular human boxing matches where the underdog ends up winning the title as well as everyone's hearts; nevertheless it is one of the most intriguing fights till date.
In the first half, the movie gets a bit slow and dragged, but the moment the fight sequences start, the movie picks up its pace and you are transported to a whole different world of amazing, grand, never-seen-before fights. While on one hand there is the slow rise of a junkyard robot in to the top league, on the other hand, there is a journey of a father-son duo getting to know each other and trying to make amends for the past mistakes. The movie is so well packaged that it does complete justice to both these parts of the same story. The entire star cast is superb and has given very natural, impeccable performances. The kid Max is especially very adorable.
The CGI is simply spectacular; I have no words to describe the effect it had on me. It is much better than Transformers and its likes. The special effects, the choreography for the fight sequences and the overall treatment of the movie is splendid. What is surprising is that the movie feels real. All those things, people, events, fights everything feels so real that in spite of being set in a land of fiction, you can relate to everything that is going on.
There is something very peculiar about we humans; we don't sympathise with a tree until it’s a talking tree, we don't sympathise with a horse or a dog until they show some humanely emotions and similarly we suddenly take a liking to the robots who show the slightest signs of having emotions without having programed in that manner. Just like in the movie Bicentennial man, even the robot in this movie has some understanding of its own which makes us more sympathetic towards it. The dance moves, the shadow fights and the expressions that are conveyed through that metallic exterior will make your heart melt.
Initially you might get slightly bored but once Atom starts exploding, you will know the value of Real Steel; 'coz this Real Steel, is the Real Deal.