Real Steel

Real Steel

Directed by Shawn Levy

Hugh Jackman

Dakota Goyo

A true cinephile would clearly see the true merit of an underdog-father-son-sports movie. It makes the viewer believe in the power of perseverance, self trust, and the importance of family values. We dont see much of this sad to say. Although it is refreshing to see every once and a while. Amid all the superhero movies, here is a movie that champions the real life heroes. The everyday heroes that we all look up to, may they be your parents, teachers, friends and significant others.

The story is a redemptive process for a man who has lost self trust and self worth. In a futuristic era where to increase fatality in boxing, humans are replaced by giant robots to fight to the death. In result we find a down and out ex-boxer named Charlie (Hugh Jackman) hustling for money by showcasing defunct robots. Life creates a speed bump when Charlie is given summons to come to court for a custody hearing for his son Max (Dakota Goyo.) The duo butt heads but ultimately reaches a middle ground, through the sport of robot boxing. A kid genius with robots, Max reassembles an old sparring robot named Atom and enters him in what I can only comprehend as the world boxing championship for robots.

I was frozen to the idea of Robots featured predominantly on the screen. Heck! The last Transformers movie turned me off to robot movies or the the like forever. The difference in the two is that, Real Steel relied more on story than special effects. Shawn Levy actually opted to make the movie less reliant on special effect or futuristic gadgets. There were no big explosions, the robots were not overtly complicated in design. Special effects like flying cars, or abundance in neon lights were absent.

Amazing performance from Dakota Goyo, a new child actor who I am too sure that with enough time and film experience will be one of the greats. Dakota's performance in the film reminds me strongly of the young River Phoenix. Maybe the physical resemblance is close between the two, I truly believe Dakota has great potential. I expected nothing less than perfect for Hugh Jackman, who, you can always tell prepares for every role and gives 110 percent. Physically he looked the part of an ex boxer, throwing punches hard and dodging fast like Pacquiao.

Rumors have it that, treatment for a second is on the works, and Jackman has already climbed on board. We will see though.....