REAL STEEL DVD (2011)
SYNOPSIS: Enter the not-so-distant future, where boxing has gone high-tech - 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots have taken over the ring. Starring Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter turned small-time promoter. Real Steel is a gritty, white-knuckle action ride that pulls no punches. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.
MOVIE REVIEW:
It’s easy to dismiss a movie such as “Real Steel”. Partly, there is already a much bigger movie franchise featuring transforming robots and secondly, director Shawn Levy doesn’t instil much confidence when his repertoire includes perfunctory comedies such as “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “Night at the Museum”.
Set in the year 2020 where robots has replaced men in the boxing arena, a down-and-out former boxer, Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) makes his living pitting his robot against others in underground matches, fun fairs and running away from countless debtors. Just when his life couldn’t get any worse, his long estranged son, Max (Dakota Goyo who played a young Thor in “Thor”) dropped in for a visit after the death of his mother. Even though Charlie can’t wait to shake off Max in the beginning, the unlikely team of father-and-son reunites on a journey that takes them to places where the unthinkable happens.
“Real Steel” marks Levy’s most ambitious and biggest production to date. Armed with a reportedly budget of US$110 million, the massive amount of CG and physical effects on display will have you in awe. With legendary boxer, Sugar Ray Leonard acting as consultant, the slugging between the robots is remarkable well-choreographed and framed even though all are realized through visual effects company, Digital Domain. Comparing this to Bay’s Transformers series which relied heavily on fast cuts, blurring effect and slow-mo, “Real Steel” on the other hand wins hands down and surprisingly impresses when at least you can made out who is Noisy Boy, Atom, Zeus or Midas for that matter.
Action pieces aside, “Real Steel” features an all-round nicely written father-and-son drama. Hugh Jackman is endearing as ever even if he is playing the jerk here. From a father who is never there to one that bond with his son Max who at his end truly believes his dad has the potential to train his robot, Atom to compete in the World Robot Boxing League, something akin to WWE. It’s a journey filled with clichés, corny moments yet remain thoroughly engaging as we root for Charlie, Max and Atom. Dakota Goya might be the next child star to look out for but as you know, kids do grow up damn fast and its either make or break for Goya in the years to come.
There is no lack of brawling action sequences, lush production sets and campy dance moves courtesy of Max in this 127 minutes movie. With people liked Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis onboard serving as producers, Levy managed to pull off a heartwarming rousing sports drama that is equivalent to the iconic “Rocky Balboa”. Though it’s hard to tell in what aspects Spielberg and Zemeckis contributed to the overall product, as far as this reviewer can tell, “Real Steel” in the end is a real winner.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
A somewhat entertaining 3 minutes of Bloopers where you see the cast fumbling over their lines.
Making of Metal Valley is a 14 minutes segment that takes viewers behind-the-scenes in the sequence where Max found Atom at the junkyard. The amount of work that goes to the stunts, set-ups, editing and the amount of cranes that are deployed for four nights of shooting is amazing.
Building the Bots is a brief featurette that showcases the beautiful robots that are built by the guys at Legacy Effects. Steven Spielberg even drops in for a set visit.
Because Levy is such an engaging and lively talker, you shouldn’t miss out on the Audio Commentary with Director Shawn Levy as he shares plenty of anecdotes on the CG effects, music, production design and many aspects on making the movie.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is excellent and bombastic; at times it even drowned out Danny Elfman’s score. Visually, it’s a charm to indulge in all the details, depth and the cinematography. “Real Steel” is the perfect choice for any DVD collector.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
