Ingsly Photos: October 2011

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Real Steel review

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly.

Certificate: 12A

Info: This film follows the story of Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), a down on his luck promoter of boxing robots. His life takes an unexpected turn when fate wings his 11 year old son, Max (Dakota Goyo) back into his life. Together they discover a boxing robot that could be the next big thing.This film features stylish robot boxing visuals and a fair share of father son bonding.

First Impressions: The backbone of the film revolves around Charlie and his son Max. It's a rocky relationship as Charlie doesn't want him around and Max wants to be elsewhere. The film follows a pretty cliched path but the rocky with robots element holds it together pretty well. I didn't really go into the film with high expectations which kind of helped.

The good points: Don't go into this film expecting anything deep or surprising because it just isn't that kind of film. It is however the kind of film that you go and watch for a bit of escapism where you'll be entertained for a couple of hours. High Jackman is entertaining as usual and it's nice to see Evangeline Lilly in something other than Lost. I'm pretty certain that she has done other stuff since then but I haven't seen anything. Dakota Goyo played his part well as the determined kid, Max. There was some funny banter between him and Jackman.

I was impressed with the CGI. There wasn't any moments in the film where I thought the robots looked unrealistic. The big test with Computer generated imagery is how well it blends in with the actors and the scenery. In that respect this film gets a thumbs up.

The bad points: The problem with this film is that it's pretty run of the mill. It's not that difficult to predict how the story pans out.

Final thought: This is an ok film but it's the kind of film that easily gets lost among the blockbusters of the year. It's worth a watch though.