REAL STEEL (2011)

MyRating: YYYYY

Director: Shawn Levy

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn, Olga Fonda, Karl Yune

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language

This is one of the movies that I came into the theater with a low expectation, as I am not a big fan of robot movies, and partly also thanks to the rating from the critics in Rotten Tomatoes (in which the average rating number seems to finally end up thinly undecideable, whether the movie is 'fresh' or 'rotten'). However, what I got instead when I came out of the theater was a surprisingly big loves that I felt towards the movie. To more clearly express my feelings, 'This is a movie that I will definitely regret if I end up never watching it'.

The movie has the tone and settings of the 'old fashioned' Americana with the underdog 'Rocky' formula, even though the movie itself is set in the near future and the boxers fighting in the ring are not humans, but robots. Hugh Jackman was a great fun to watch here, playing Charlie Kenton, a former washed-up boxer who now becomes a small-time promoter for his discarded and reprogrammed robots to fight in the underground robot boxing matches. When the robot boxing is becoming a new popular sport to replace the no more popular human boxing, Charlie finds the needs to become part of the fortune that this new sport could offer, but still struggling to earn enough money for living and falling into big debts, one after another, as he keeps buying new robots with a dream to make his robots a champion and a money maker, besides keeps losing money in his boxing bets. And he always ended up with his robots being knocked down in the rings by other more sophisticated and stronger robots, with completely broken body parts that are no good to be fixed again.

 

When things are seemed to not getting any better, Charlie is informed that his ex-girlfriend from the past has died and reminded him that he has an 11-year-old son named Max Kenton, played impressively by Dakota Goyo. As an absent and never a responsible father, Charlie gets an idea to help him out from his red situation by selling his son for money to Max's aunt Debra (Hope Davis) and her husband Marvin (James Rebhorn), a wealthy family who wants a full custody for Max at the first place. But as a condition and request from the couple, Charlie has to take care of Max for three months as the couple are going away for their second honeymoon. Charlie reluctantly agrees with the deal and he brings Max to live with him and his current girlfriend Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly), a woman who deeply loves Charlie for who he is and always being supportive to fulfill his dreams.

The father and son find it difficult to live with each other at the beginning, but their hobby and desire for the same thing, which is the robot boxing sport, slowly bonds them together. When they go to a junkyard to look for parts for the damaged robot, Max finds an old Generation-2 robot named Atom, that used to be a sparring partner for real fighter robots in the past and has a unique mirroring skills. While Charlie thinks that they have found junk, Max somehow has a strong believe that he has found a perfect robot that has what it takes to win. And the only person who can train the robot to become a champion is his father. You probably know where the story might go from here, or you may say that the movie was predictable. However, it is not about where the story will go or how it will end, rather it is about how well you tell the whole story. That is the different that will make even a typical and predictable movie to become an outstanding one.

This movie was a blast due to the wonderful actings from both father and son. Hugh Jackman showed what a fine actor he is, as he nailed the role as the father. Desperate, stubborn, irresponsible and egoistic, as all he cares is his world of boxing and robots. His acting was not only fun to watch with his wide range of facial expressions, but also he breathed a complete soul into Charlie Kenton, an ordinary man with flesh and blood who did mistakes and took wrong decisions, and practically a loser at the beginning of the movie. And the meeting with his son challenged him to not only change how he sees thing, but also how he should change his priority of life.

While as the son, Dakota Goyo was incredibly amazing. I was really impressed by the performance of this very talented young actor, who has a lively and very natural acting skills. Acting is seems to be running through his blood, as he lives up the character of Max, who is persistent, smart, determinate and as stubborn as his father. Not only he can step up to the plate and match the acting of Jackman, but in some scenes, he actually stole the show. A new young star has born. The chemistry between Jackman and Goyo was very solid and emotionally touching, one of the best chemistries between a father and a son roles in a movie for a very long time. And the chemistry between Max and Atom the robot was also tender and warming.

This movie has an amazing story, thanks to the engaging and well written screenplay by John Gatins, with wonderful characterizations and smart dialogs. And two thumbs up to the director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum), who knows how to translate the story to become a great movie, and who knows exactly how to grab and when to rumble your emotions, over and over again. The idea of Max dancing along with his robot before the match was a brilliant one, that will make you smile everytime you see him and the robot dance. Another brilliant scene was when Max running for and grabbing the microphone in the ring to make a speech. Clever, as no one will definitely expect that. Or when Max showed that he was brave enough to accept a bigger bet for his robot's match, while his father was chicken out, unexpectedly following the same thing that Charlie did before when he was very sure with his bet, while his son scared out. And all these worked so well because the characters were developed well, as it will not only make us care for them and what they did, but also make what they did to look believable. Their acts are just the reflections of who they are.

The boxing scenes between the robots were awesome and were a delight to watch. They were funny at times. It is like watching real humans boxing each other with a complete human-like boxing moves, such as uppercut, jab, hook, energetic legs movement, blocking, grappling and knocked the other opponent out to the ring floor. The CGI and special effects were astonishing and looked very real, as well as believable. And the boxing scenes were choreographed and shot in such a way that you still can see the robots fighting in such details, without making you feeling dizzy or confused (Sugar Ray Leonard was involved as the adviser in the boxing scenes). It's amazing to realize that you hold your breath and cheer for the robots while fighting.

I will never forget the expression in Hugh Jackman's face when he enthusiastically punched out his fists to show all out his boxing abilities outside the ring, while Atom the robot fighting inside the ring, with his son and his girlfriend watching him closely and feel happy for him, as they can see him very happy at the moment. Maybe that was the happiest moment of his life. It's just like an expression of a child who is very excited to play with his most favorite toy. The happiness to do the things that you love the most and passionately about. And I cannot but to also feel happy for him. That was a very uplifting moment of the movie.

This is a feel good, very inspiring and heartwarming family movie that will make you cry, smile, laugh and cheer at the same time. What makes this movie great was actually not because of the robots (even though the robots did absolutely look great), but the gripping and emotional human drama inside. Couldn't find myself an inch to NOT to love about this movie, and couldn't understand 'even' for an inch for the people who have watched this movie and hated it. One rock solid entertainment and a must see movie. A champion for the heart. (MJ)

MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT