Movie Review: Real Steel
Oct. 14th, 2011 10:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseOkay, I admit it. This movie totally won me over. I didn't even want to go see it (I was rooting heavily for 50/50 or The Ides of March), but Brian wanted to watch something popcorn-y, so I agreed to go see the movie about giant robots fighting each other - on sufferance, given how little I enjoyed Transformers.
And...wow. Hugh Jackman has always had a talent for taking characters that are a little obsessive and possibly unlikable and making them sympathetic. While I wasn't too impressed by Charlie Kenton's initial asshole-gambling-addict persona, once he starts interacting with the robots, his whole demeanor just lights up - you can totally believe that this is what he really loves doing. And while the story about "deadbeat father finds connection with estranged kid" is Hollywood cliche at its finest, the sincerity that both he and the young actor playing Max manage to bring to the story goes long strides towards making up for its hoariness.
Also, about that actor playing Max (whom IMDB tells me is named Dakota Goyo) - that was a surprisingly excellent performance. At the beginning he trod dangerously close to Anakin Skywalker territory, but somehow managed to avoid that trap, remaining a three-dimensional and sympathetic character throughout. And his interactions with Hugh Jackman, which give the movie its real emotional core, developed naturally - I realized about two-thirds of the way through that I'd been holding my breath for the movie to slide into idiot-plot territory, and while there were a couple of close shaves, it managed to stay engaging and real, thanks in large part to Goyo and Jackman's performances.
Why am I spending all this time talking about the human characters in a movie that's, effectively, a live adaptation of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots? Well, that's the thing. Unlike certain other directors one could mention (*coughMichaelBaycough*), the filmmakers here understand that a robot is inherently representational - we're only going to care about it inasmuch as we emotionally invest in it, and the way we invest in it is through characters that we care about. Sure, there's a certain adrenaline rush to be had watching a robot rip another robot's head clean off, but when the audience knows that the decapitated robot belongs to someone who's broke and about to give up on his dream, it has a certain amount of poignancy as well. Similarly, while I don't want to spoil the inevitable climactic final battle, I'll just say that they found a surprising way to both increase the stakes *and* make it a part of Charlie's character arc, which made it feel far more triumphant and satisfying than it had any right to. Hell, I cared more about the outcome of these robot matches than I did most human fights.
A couple of minor points: The sheer creativity and skill that went into designing and animating the bots is mind-boggling - not a one of them looked generic or cookie-cutter, and despite being mostly CG they all felt like they had real weight and heft to them. Also, the product placement was perhaps a little more intrusive than I generally like in a film, but given that it was about a sport whose real-life analogues are pretty well branded, it at least didn't feel too out of place.
No, it's not 'great cinema', and it probably doesn't have a lot of re-watch value. Really, it's exactly what the trailers made it look like - robot-themed Rocky. But ultimately, it comes down to this: If you'd told me when I first saw that trailer that I'd be cheering and whooping and getting that kind of triumphant adrenaline rush from a movie about fighting robots, I would have thought you were nuts. And yet I did cheer, and whoop, and at the end I was honest-to-god in tears. And you can't say entertainment that engaging doesn't have value, no matter how high- or low-brow it might be.
Well worth a matinee and possibly even a bucket of overpriced popcorn. A-
And...wow. Hugh Jackman has always had a talent for taking characters that are a little obsessive and possibly unlikable and making them sympathetic. While I wasn't too impressed by Charlie Kenton's initial asshole-gambling-addict persona, once he starts interacting with the robots, his whole demeanor just lights up - you can totally believe that this is what he really loves doing. And while the story about "deadbeat father finds connection with estranged kid" is Hollywood cliche at its finest, the sincerity that both he and the young actor playing Max manage to bring to the story goes long strides towards making up for its hoariness.
Also, about that actor playing Max (whom IMDB tells me is named Dakota Goyo) - that was a surprisingly excellent performance. At the beginning he trod dangerously close to Anakin Skywalker territory, but somehow managed to avoid that trap, remaining a three-dimensional and sympathetic character throughout. And his interactions with Hugh Jackman, which give the movie its real emotional core, developed naturally - I realized about two-thirds of the way through that I'd been holding my breath for the movie to slide into idiot-plot territory, and while there were a couple of close shaves, it managed to stay engaging and real, thanks in large part to Goyo and Jackman's performances.
Why am I spending all this time talking about the human characters in a movie that's, effectively, a live adaptation of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots? Well, that's the thing. Unlike certain other directors one could mention (*coughMichaelBaycough*), the filmmakers here understand that a robot is inherently representational - we're only going to care about it inasmuch as we emotionally invest in it, and the way we invest in it is through characters that we care about. Sure, there's a certain adrenaline rush to be had watching a robot rip another robot's head clean off, but when the audience knows that the decapitated robot belongs to someone who's broke and about to give up on his dream, it has a certain amount of poignancy as well. Similarly, while I don't want to spoil the inevitable climactic final battle, I'll just say that they found a surprising way to both increase the stakes *and* make it a part of Charlie's character arc, which made it feel far more triumphant and satisfying than it had any right to. Hell, I cared more about the outcome of these robot matches than I did most human fights.
A couple of minor points: The sheer creativity and skill that went into designing and animating the bots is mind-boggling - not a one of them looked generic or cookie-cutter, and despite being mostly CG they all felt like they had real weight and heft to them. Also, the product placement was perhaps a little more intrusive than I generally like in a film, but given that it was about a sport whose real-life analogues are pretty well branded, it at least didn't feel too out of place.
No, it's not 'great cinema', and it probably doesn't have a lot of re-watch value. Really, it's exactly what the trailers made it look like - robot-themed Rocky. But ultimately, it comes down to this: If you'd told me when I first saw that trailer that I'd be cheering and whooping and getting that kind of triumphant adrenaline rush from a movie about fighting robots, I would have thought you were nuts. And yet I did cheer, and whoop, and at the end I was honest-to-god in tears. And you can't say entertainment that engaging doesn't have value, no matter how high- or low-brow it might be.
Well worth a matinee and possibly even a bucket of overpriced popcorn. A-
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-14 06:31 pm (UTC)I think if the idea of a movie which could be alternately titled Wolverine's Battlebots seems somehow underwhelming, it's probably because we've had three Michael-Bay-helmed movies about giant CGI robots beating the Havoline out of each other manage to be soulless and, worse, boring. Making such a movie personal and poignant is an unexpected novelty. Like you, I haven't had the slightest impulse to seek this film out -- suddenly I'm not opposed to the idea.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-14 07:11 pm (UTC)I know it hasn't been getting great reviews, but I think Roger Ebert's views on the film are as accurate as you're going to find. It actually is a movie with a lot of heart.
The thing that I really liked best was how thoroughly they committed to the world they built for the movie. It wasn't the sort of a half-assed approach that Cowboys&Aliens took, they really deeply committed to the future America of Real Steel in this movie, and it shows. The level of detail and worldbuilding is striking and very impressive; and that's not even qualified with "for this kind of movie." It's objectively very impressive, shocking, even.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-14 07:11 pm (UTC)I think you'd enjoy it. Obviously, it's not a movie you go to with great expectations, but if you're willing to kick back and be entertained, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised as well.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-14 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-14 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-15 01:31 am (UTC)