Real Steel (2011)

Set in the near future, where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling promoter feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top, he discovers he has an 11-year-old son who wants to know his father.

Director:

Shawn Levy

Writers:

John Gatins (screenplay), Dan Gilroy (story),

Stars:

Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Jackman	...	Charlie Kenton
Dakota Goyo	...	Max Kenton
Evangeline Lilly	...	Bailey Tallet
Anthony Mackie	...	Finn
Kevin Durand	...	Ricky
Hope Davis	...	Aunt Debra
James Rebhorn	...	Marvin
Karl Yune	...	Tak Mashido
Olga Fonda	...	Farra Lemkova
John Gatins	...	Kingpin
Sophie Levy	...	Big Sister
Tess Levy	...	Little Sister
Charlie Levy	...	Littlest Sister
Gregory Sims	...	Bill Panner
Torey Adkins	...	Large Texan Man

Storyline

In the near future when people become uninterested in boxing and similar sports, a new sport is created - Robot boxing wherein robots battle each other while being controlled by someone. Charlie Kenton, a former boxer who's trying to make it in the new sport, not only doesn't do well, he is very deeply in the red. When he learns that his ex, mother of his son Max, dies, he goes to figure out what to do with him. His ex's sister wants to take him in but Charlie has first say in the matter. Charlie asks her husband for money so he can buy a new Robot in exchange for turning Max over to them. He takes Max for the summer. And Max improves his control of his robot. But when the robot is destroyed, they go to a scrap yard to get parts. Max finds an old generation robot named Atom and restores him. Max wants Atom to fight but Charlie tells him he won't last a round. However, Atom wins. And it isn't long before Atom is getting major bouts. Max gets Charlie to teach Atom how to fight, and the ...

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Plot Keywords:

robot | boxing | fight | near future | robot battle | 

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Taglines:

Courage is stronger than steel.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks [ca] (French) DreamWorks [us]

Country:

USA India

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Real Steel: The IMAX Experience

Filming Locations:

Mason, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$27,319,677 (USA) (7 October 2011)

Gross:

$85,463,309 (USA) (10 February 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Touchstone Pictures, Reliance Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a nod to WWE, Atom and Max are said to be from "Parts Unknown", a reference to The Ultimate Warrior.

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Goofs

Given the fact that Hugh Jackman is left-handed, Atom is seen at times mirroring Charlie rather than mimicking him. In many scenes, especially in the fight between Atom and Zeus, Atom is clearly fighting right-handed while Charlie is shadow boxing left-handed. This is perhaps the reason why Atom is seen to be alternating between mimicking and mirroring even though according to how shadow boxing is explained in the film he should be only mimicking. This is also easily seen, though, when you notice the person running the shadow function either facing Atom or not. The shadow apparently mirrors when the operator is facing him and in mimic when not.

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Quotes

Charlie Kenton: Are you kidding me with those eyes?

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Connections

Referenced in Conan: Alibi for the Murder Andy's Committing Tonight (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Nine Thou (Grant Mohrman 'Superstars' Remix)"
Written by Ryan Maginn, Jason Rabinowitz, Takbir Bashir, Colton Fisher and Grant Mohrman
Performed by Styles of Beyond
Courtesy of Spytech Records/Position Music

User Reviews

Doesn't lead us down the road of "coolness"

My response to Real Steel is almost parallel to Hugh Jackman's reaction to the robot fighter Atom in the film. Upon initial advertising and trailers, I wasn't impressed by the film one bit. It looked like another film that glorified the "coolness" of robots, and then tried to tack on a contrived story of a father and son relationship. Never did I believe I'd see it and actually award it a positive score. Just like in the film where Jackman doesn't believe Atom has what it takes to be a successful fighter, and then is greeted with a rude awakening.

The film takes place in the near future, 2020 according to director Shawn Levy, where human boxers have been replaced by large metal monstrosities that do the dirty work while the humans occupy the controls and the commands for them. Charlie Kenton (Jackman), a former boxer, now spends his days using the robots to fight, but finds himself in a rough patch of failures.

After being informed his ex-girlfriend has died, whom he had a child with, Charlie must now take care of the kid for three months until his aunt and uncle return from their second honeymoon. The kid is eleven year old Max, played efficiently by Dakota Goyo. The two meet awkwardly, but experienced moviegoers like myself know that these two will soon become a cheerful father and son duo.

During a junkyard visit where Charlie and Max are searching for new parts for their robot, they stumble upon Atom, a small, yet relentlessly strong bot who is abandoned but still able to fight. They repair him, and then discover that with voice recognition and shadow effect, where the robot mimes the moves of a human) that he is a bot with a strong amount of potential for success. The rest of the film depicts the father and son's efforts to take Atom all the way to the championship.

The digital effects work very well together, and are much more eye appealing than the similar ones used in the Transformers series. For one thing, the fight scenes are coherent, entertaining, and extremely well scored by Danny Elfman, who this time gives us some delightfully different music.

The robots are captured using a variety of digital techniques. Some are animatronic, some are used through motion capture animation, where actors get fitted for special suits and imitate the motions of the character, and some just plain ol' CGI. All of these three techniques are blended very well together, and make for a very entertaining visual spectacle. Even the motion capture isn't as sketchy and glitchy as it normally is. In Ang Lee's Hulk back in 2003 it was clearly jerky and underdeveloped, in Mars Needs Moms, this same year, it was unnecessary and obtrusive, but here, it seems the effects team has gotten their act together.

I think the only fault here is the screenplay. but what makes it a bit better is the fact that the cast approaches it with optimism and the mentality that they will "make it work." Jackman certainly does, pulling off a sleazy, ignorant father who grows to appreciate his son and his job a bit more, and Dakota Goyo, like I said before, hits almost every note just right. The problem is the screenplay hammers us with several movie clichés we've seen many times before. The rags to riches story has shown itself many times, not to mention one's rise from humble beginnings to a successful career. At least Real Steel recognizes the movies it's paying homage to, like the whole end scene that slightly mirrors Rocky.

Director Shawn Levy has successfully made success out of two underdogs; the film itself and Atom. His previous flicks like Just Married and Night at the Museum were lightweight innocent features that failed to include anything on the same level as Real Steel. By the end, the film had given me a feelings I like to possess when I come out of a film I thought was going to be lackluster; reassured and surprised.

Starring: Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo. Directed by: Shawn Levy.