Written by Trey Seah
I’ll like to start by saying, bravo to Real Steel; the impact this film had on me was stronger than steel.
Many of us would remember Hugh Jackman as Wolverine from the X-Men films, with his bushy hair, long sideburns and badass claws, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine him in another film which involves fighting and metal, albeit the clean shaven look with short hair.
Real Steel is set in the future, where human boxing becomes obsolete and robots are fighting in the ring instead. Hugh Jackman, who was once a boxer in the ring, ends up using robots to compete and runs into many obstacles. At the same time, he took care of his 11 year old son, who forms an unlikely relationship and braces through the hardships together.
As expected from Hollywood, the robots in the film are well designed with a good amount of details, making them extremely realistic. However, the most important element in this film is not the robots. Yes they are cool and the fights are pretty awesome, but all that are just symbols that represent our broken society.
Amidst all the flying metal scraps and jaw breaking action, there is an underlying message which attempts to remind the audience how important kinship is above any materialistic wants and so-called needs.
This film attempts to tell the audience that everything does not have only a price, but also value to them; be it tangible or intangible.
The cast of this film was close to perfection; I cannot imagine anyone else but Hugh Jackman playing the role of the lead, Charlie Kenton. He had the build, the movement, the physique to be believable as a boxer, but more importantly, he can supplement his muscles with top class acting, being able to pull a whirlwind of emotions to not only the script, but being able to deliver it to the audience too.
Dakota Goya, who portrayed Max Kenton, Charlie Kenton’s son in the film, did a fantastic job, and with such maturity in his acting, he is certainly one of the rising young actors. The last time when I ever saw such an amazing performance from a child actor was Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver. Dakota Goya’s performance was not far from that.
For those of you who had watched the movie, you’ll know what I mean when I say that Max and Charlie seemed like they swapped position at times.
This film was not without its flaw though. I felt like there could have been more fights, or some technical aspects of the robot fights could have been illustrated more clearly as well. The slow-mo of the film were used in the wrong places as well, and it made Hugh Jackman looked more clumsy than swift and deadly at times.
Despite these flaws, and even though this film may not be the best of its type, it is extremely enjoyable, no matter alone, with your loved ones, as a family or a group of friends, you’ll be able to gain something invaluable from this film.
At least for me personally, I learnt that there’s always something or someone to learn and learn from.
