The Science Fiction Review Movies Real Steel (2011) Directed by Shawn Levy

Real Steel (2011) Directed by Shawn Levy

DVD Cover
I saw a preview for Real Steel a while back and completely forgot about it until I noticed it at my local Redbox. I didn’t really have high expectations of the movie, but I love robots, so checked it out. Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) plays Charlie Kenton, a washed up boxer that now competes in humanoid robot battles. After the embarrassing destruction of yet another robot, some guys track him down and tell him his ex wife died and now custody of his 11 year old son Max falls to him. His sister-in-law that wants custody, and Charlie wants nothing to do with the kid. Just as he is about to sign over custody, he notices she is married to some rich old guy. Seeing an opportunity to buy another robot, Charlie makes a secret deal for 100K to sign over custody. Conveniently, the rich husband is planning a trip to Europe, so doesn’t want the kid quite yet. The deal is 50K now, 50K at the end of the summer. Charlie reluctantly takes Max on the road to explore the underworld of robot boxing.

I kept thinking that Max was played by Jake Lloyd (Anakin Skywalker from The Phantom Menace) but knew that he was almost 20 by now. Still, I had to look him up after the movie and was impressed by the likeness.

Max (Dakota Goyo)
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1936502784/tt0433035

Anakin (Jake Lloyd)
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm317692672/nm0005157


Anyway, the writers really went overboard with Charlie’s recklessness with the new robot. Why would anyone take a title match with off the bat having no practice with a new bot is beyond me. The new bot is promptly destroyed by the reigning champ of the local off circuit boxing bracket. So, with a ton of money down the drain, it is time to search the junkyard for parts to throw together a new robot. They discover an old discarded sparring robot, mainly used to train the “big boys” with. There was a hint of some type of AI hiding inside of Atom, the salvaged robot.

Max – “Are you in there?”

Atom – <Blank stare>

Max – “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me!”

The movie could have taken a different direction at that point, but the idea really wasn’t explored any further. Instead, the focus is on Atom’s now-rare shadowing functionality. Basically it watches the owner and mimics the moves without the need of a complicated joystick or pre-programmed move combos. This seems to be a perfect opportunity for Charlie, the washed up boxer, to relive his dream. Instead, he is very reluctant to train Atom. The rest of the movie follows Atom’s rise to fame and eventual bout with the most badass robot in the circuit.

I wasn’t really expecting much from this movie. The plot was fairly predictable, yet I still enjoyed the movie. My heart got pumping during the various rounds Atom was fighting in, especially toward the end. One thing I was definitely impressed with was the special effects. I really couldn’t tell the difference between the animatronics and CGI. The acting could have been better. I kept having flashbacks to the whiny little Anakin Skywalker from The Phantom Menace. Despite some flaws, I still enjoyed the movie. I’m a sucker for robots.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please prove you are a human * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Post

How do you make sense of A New Hope after watching the Star Wars prequels?How do you make sense of A New Hope after watching the Star Wars prequels?

I’ve been huge Star Wars fan since childhood, but was a bit disappointed overall with some of the inconsistencies that cropped up when the prequels were released.  Keith Martin helps make sense of it all. He ties the prequels together with Star Wars: A New Hope (later to be called Episode IV) in his post “A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope.” It is packed full of insights, some of which I’ve seen tossed around here and there, but he also adds a bit of humor in just the right places.

If we accept all the Star Wars films as the same canon (as it seems we must) then a lot that happens in the original films has to be reinterpreted in the light of the prequels. As we now know, the rebel Alliance was founded by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa. What can readily be deduced is that their first recruit, who soon became their top field agent, was R2-D2.

Check out the full post over at Keith’s live journal page:

Starship Troopers (1997) directed by Paul VerhoevenStarship Troopers (1997) directed by Paul Verhoeven

Starship Troopers (1997)

I will first review Starship Troopers directed by Paul Verhoeven as a movie, then compare how it stands up against the novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein. The Hollywood movie opens up with some political propaganda films trying to get the public to join the Mobile Infantry, saying “Service guarantees citizenship.” Various soldiers are shown saying “I’m doing my part!” then the camera zooms in on a little kid in uniform saying “I’m doing my part too!” The only way to earn the right to vote and become a full citizen is to join the military for a term of service.

The movie’s premise is that Earth is under attack by aliens from Klendathu. This is described through a series of TV style news clips. The “Bugs,” or “Arachnids,” are hurling meteors at Earth, which have been intercepted for the most part by the space Navy. The obvious solution to Earth’s survival is the extermination of the aliens. The scene jumps to some news coverage on the Arachnid home world of Klendathu during a huge battle. (more…)

Surrogates (2009) Directed by Jonathan MostowSurrogates (2009) Directed by Jonathan Mostow

Surrogates DVD

I wasn’t really expecting much when I heard about Surrogates, so waited to watch it until it came out on DVD. From the previews it looked like many other science fiction action films that seem to be pumped out by Hollywood. The main premise of the movie is that humans live their lives through “surrogate” (robot) bodies. I’m a huge fan of Asimov and his robot novels, so this was enough to catch my attention. The human interface is kind of like how control worked in Avatar, but instead of an organic body as the host, it is robotic. I would definitely not classify the surrogates as the cyborgs that Ray Kurzweil thinks we will eventually become.  One of the main advantages to using a surrogate is that the owner is always protected, so in some ways they are better than cyborgs. There was no way for any harm to come to a user, until now.

Tom Greer, played by Bruce Willis, is in charge of investigating the destruction of a couple of surrogates. This is usually not that big of a deal, but one of the owners is found dead. Whoever wrote the script really wasn’t trying anything new as far as the murder/mystery approach is concerned. I was expecting a lot more action based on the previews that I saw. It felt like I was watching for 40 minutes before things started to get moving. This move was all around average in most respects. Nothing really stood out. It wasn’t bad, but not great.

One completely unrelated observation is that I found Bruce Willis’ upper lip (stash zone) alarmingly long. It looked almost twice the size I’d normally expect. I think of most of the roles I’ve seen him in, he’s got a beard of some sort, so that kind of hides that feature of his face. Am I alone here? Check out the pic on IMDB