Real Steel Review

Seeing as this is my first movie review, let me explain some of the method of my madness. 

1) Rating: Pretty straight forward. On a scale of 0-5, what did I think of the movie.

2) What You Need to Know: I hate spoilers. Even if something's been out for some time, not everyone has seen it. Also, no matter how long something's been out, it is always someone's first time seeing it. I will give you the most basic knowledge of the plot you need to want to watch the movie. At most, I might take you to the inciting incident, but really this is stuff you should know from the trailers.

3) Techical Stuff: This is where I really break down where the rating came from.

4) In Summary: Do I need to explain this?

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

What You Need to Know: Based on a 1956 short story by Richard Mathison, Real Steel is a father-and-son story set in the world of robot-fighting. Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a former professional boxer. Charlie has a knack for amassing debt which leads to him taking care of his estranged 11-year-old son, Max (Dakota Goyo), in what may be the skeeziest plans imaginable. After losing yet another fight, Charlie takes Max to the robot junkyard where Max discovers Atom, a G2 sparring bot. Boxing movie tropes take over from here. Oh yeah, and Charlie is into his late trainer's daughter Bailey (Evangline Lily). That's all you need to know if you are thinking about checking this out.

Technical Stuff: I'll start this by saying Charlie Kenton is not a likable guy. In "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder, he explains the concept of saving the cat as a single scene that explores the positive qualities of the protagonist in order to endear them to the audience. I'm paraphrasing but I hope you get the point. Charlie Kenton doesn't really have one of those moments until halfway through the movie, and even then he acts like a bit of a jerk. I found myself mostly rooting for the robot, who really had not emotional resonance aside from being the underdog.

The CGI is also considerably well done. I could only call shenanigans on one moment of CGI in which flames were involved, but I can excuse it because fire is still one of those tricky things to do with computers and the moment really is fleeting. I'm just the kind of guy to catch the sort of thing.

I'm not sure who to give more credit to for the wonderful camera work and smart shot composition. But kudos to both Mauro Fiore and Shawn Levy for creating some great images. Something as simple as the framing when Charlie and Max first meet was inspired and I'm happy to see that forethought in what could easily have been a run-of-the-mill sci-fi movie.

In Summary: Real Steel is in a category of movie I call "fun movies." Fun movies are not great or masterful by any standard. I wouldn't hold a fun movie to the standard of the original Star Wars, Godfather, or The Dark Knight, but it's something that I would put on TV in the background. So, Real Steel? Should you watch it? If you are in the mood to laugh and see some cool things with friend, I say yes. If you want the next Oscar worthy film, pass it and watch 50/50!