No surprises here. In “Real Steel,” Charlie (Hugh Jackman) is a washed up ex-pugilist in a world that is fascinated by robot boxing. Charlie has failed as a fighter as well as a father, and is getting a second chance to be both — but you already know where “Real Steel” is going.
Most surprising? It takes over two hours to get there, even when the whole audience can tell it’s a robotic replica of “Rocky.” In fact, you don’t even need to watch the movie to see that. When I first saw the trailer for “Real Steel,” I jokingly suggested, “It’s ‘Rocky’ with a robots!”
Joking?
Yes I was.
Wrong?
I was not.
It could have been much shorter, but in spite of its predictability, “Real Steel” is still a very satisfying underdog story in the vein of “Rocky.” The visual effects are the bee’s knees, and I was disappointed that it was so well acted. Why? Because I was really looking forward to acting so poor I could say, “It’s hard to tell the robots apart from the people!” But no, with few exceptions, the robots serve their purpose (as fancy-shmancy props) and hardly distract from the human drama. And just like “Rocky” before it, it’s human drama that makes “Real Steel” so satisfying.
But it’s not just similar in terms of the drama — in fact, the last fight sequence of “Real Steel” is paced almost exactly the same way as the fight between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed. After the fight, I half-expected Hugh Jackman to say, “Yo kid, where’s your hat?” (Wait… You don’t get that joke? Come on, it’s a classic.) Anyway, the “Rocky” homage worked for me. If you’re going to borrow from inspirational movies, why not borrow from the best?
3.5 SPARE PARTS out of 5!
Written by Tim
Edited by Aaron
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