Movie Review: Real Steel

It's awfully rare when there's so much smashing of metal against metal to actually find some humanity and a REAL story to go along with it. Guess what? Real Steel did just that to great effect.

Yes, the premise of fighting robots sounded as ludicrous as say, Transformers, but the film actually made it work. It's not as sketchy as the other robot-themed franchise, and it wasn't too much into the future that rattled my brain. And while fighting robots were really the main focus of the movie, there was a brilliant story to be told here and not just a showcase of visual effects and conveniently neglecting the plot.

The narration was good, it was skillfully directed, the script was excellently written and there was a sense of humanity in this film. I wouldn't say that I was blown away by it's creativity or originality just because some of the plot elements felt vastly familiar, but that was something I willingly ignored.

I was also impressed by the fact that Real Steel didn't pretend to be anything profound. No complex plots to follow. No intricate twists. It was just a pure unadulterated, exceptionally entertaining film that didn't take itself too seriously with all the pretentious symbolism or conspiracies and what not. Seriously. No need to go full Inception on it. Haha.

Of course, there are things to say about the visual effects, and yes, I thought they were superbly executed! The robots were hyper realistic and brilliantly designed. The fight sequences were well choreographed, sharp and surprisingly varied. Simply put, it was visually stunning.

But aside from the fantastic effects to the surprisingly good plot, the acting from all involved were also quite impressive. Hugh Jackman was recklessly charismatic and sold this "sport" with conviction. Dakota Goyo was sensational and the way he delivered his lines just made Taylor Lautner looked like sh*t. Haha. Plus, I was pretty shocked at how well he held his own right next to Jackman. Together, their chemistry was so strong as father and son that it allowed me to suspend myself outside reality and wrapped myself up with these characters.

If I have one minor quibble about the film, maybe it was just that it started really slow. I did understand that it wanted the audience to get invested with the story and the characters, but it was just a tad slow for my taste. But again, that's just a MINOR issue I had.

Ultimately, Real Steel was a fantastic film. I seriously went in with no expectations but just a fun robot movie, and came out feeling good and shockingly impressed. It's nice to be surprised once in a while.