Real Steel - (October 7, 2011): PG-13
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #1 with $27,319,677
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $51,744,000
Gross Revenue: $108,344,000
Production Budget: $110million
Director: Shawn Levy
When he signed-on to play Wolverine from the X-men franchise, Hugh Jackman skyrocketed from anonymity to superstardom, but with the exception of a few notable entries (Swordfish, The Prestige), the actor hasn’t had much breakaway success outside portraying a comic-book character. Regardless, such an apparent shortcoming didn’t stop Touchstone and DreamWorks from leveraging the household name and using his popularity to target key audiences. My personal favorite included Jackman appearing on WWE Raw (what better audience for flashy boxing robots than wrestling fans?), and even more buzz was generated when he accidently fractured a wrestler’s jaw during a stunt…looks like the boxing lessons he took from Sugar Ray Leonard to prepare for his role paid off. With a potential sci-fi action blockbuster filled with character-robots with names like “Noisy Boy,” “Midas,” and “Zeus,” the possibilities for character licensing and brand partnerships seemed limitless, and with participants like HP, Dr. Pepper, ESPN, Microsoft, and Cadillac earning product placement credits, it seemed like a lot of corporations had faith in the selling potential of Real Steel. I certainly wasn’t expecting anything emotional or profound, but energetic trailers and eye-popping special effects seemed to promise a high level of entertainment, so I was sold.
Set in 2020, Real Steel introduces a world where robots have replaced humans in the world of competitive boxing, and former boxer Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is currently struggling to pay his debts and hopelessly trying to continue promoting and participating in ill-advised matches. After his last robot is destroyed in a match, Charlie is informed that his ex-girlfriend has died and he must decide the fate of his estranged eleven-year-old son, Max (Dakota Goyo). Sensing opportunity, Charlie negotiates to sign over custody of Max to the boy’s wealthy aunt and uncle for $100,000, provided that he care for the boy during the three months that the couple spends on a second honeymoon. After plans to use the money to buy a new robot go awry, Charlie and Max discover an old sparring robot named “Atom” in a local junkyard, but the robot’s resiliency and ability to shadow human movements soon benefit from Charlie’s experience, and “Atom” transforms into a formidable fighter. With the support of Charlie’s childhood friend, Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly), the father-and-son team promotes “Atom” and earns a fight in the World Robot Boxing (WRB) league against current champion “Zeus.” Growing closer to his son over the shared success of “Atom,” Charlie must make a choice about his lifestyle and decide if he truly wants to forego custody and abandon the current pathway to success.
If I had to describe Real Steel in one word, I would have to choose “cool’; seriously, giant robots brought to life with stunning special effects is engaging, but perhaps the most awe-inducing feature is watching “Atom” mimic Hugh Jackman’s boxing moves. Such a creative and imaginative hook that would send any video game fan into a geek-fit is what makes Real Steel so entertaining and, as simplistic as it may sound, sometimes loud and flashy can be truly fun…I can tell you that I would pay top-dollar tomorrow to watch robot boxing over a traditional heavyweight bout. As far as performances go, Evangeline Lily is always a pleasure to watch, and Hugh Jackman clearly has fun with the role, but the real scene-stealer is young Dakota Goyo, who plays the kind of stubborn smartass that you cannot help but like and generates a very believable father-son dynamic with Jackman. The story is simplistic and fairly predictable, but as events unfold the audience is drawn in and inspired, genuinely on the edge of their seats rooting “Atom” on as he fights “Zeus”; drawing such an emotional connection to a non-speaking robot represents pretty significant talent on the part of director Shawn Levy. Unfortunately, for as enjoyable as Real Steel ended up being, the film took way too long to build any kind of momentum and clearly tries a little too hard to build deeper thematic components.
For perhaps the first forty-five minutes, I largely regretted my purchase of tickets for Real Steel, as when first presented, the hook of fighting robots came across a hokey and childish, strong evidence for an argument that Jackman took this project only for a paycheck. Thankfully, once “Atom” is introduced and participates in his first fight, the momentum and energy of the film finally start flowing, but for anyone other than the giddy ten-year-old boys gawking at robots, that is simply too long to wait in order to be entertained. I mentioned earlier that the father-son dynamic between Jackman and Goyo is believable, but the narrative and cinematography try way too hard to paint family conflict and character growth together, with close-ups of tear-filled characters and slow-motion sequences of cheering crowds coming across as forced and derived…plain-and-simple, this isn’t Rocky. To be clear, young adolescents will go absolutely nuts for Real Steel, but the film is not going to appeal to every demographic; older audiences are clearly a lost cause, but maybe females will be drawn to Hugh Jackman…maybe. Still, the positives of Real Steel heavily outweigh the negatives, making this newest blockbuster well-worth seeing.
Against a $110 million production budget and undoubtedly hefty marketing budget, Real Steel could have easily ended up a complete disaster, but thankfully, positive critical reception and audience responsiveness have lead to an almost full recovery of costs. Taking first place in its opening weekend was expected against a political thriller (The Ides of March), but a near-even split between strong domestic and international ticket sales has been a pleasant surprise; Michael Bay is no longer the only one who can entertain with flashy robots. As mentioned earlier, aside from blatant product placement and aggressive brand partnership, from a licensing and merchandising standpoint, the future potential for Real Steel is amazing, as I guarantee the videogames and toy lines coming down the pipe will be at the top of every young boy’s Christmas list…the Partnerships and Consumer Products division of DreamWorks must be going nuts right now. At the very least, Hugh Jackman may also have finally found a franchise to move beyond his X-men roots, as there is a definite opening for future sequels. If you embrace your inner imagination and accept that Real Steel should be taken as nothing more than core entertainment, then I guarantee that you will enjoy this newest sci-fi offering.
Overall Recommendation: High
