Rocky meets
Robot Jox! Although I prefer the old school charm of the latter (Stuart Gordon's campy but entertaining 90s cult classic), this film had some pretty decent entertaining stuff as well.
I went into this film with very different expectations from what it turned out to be in the end (they could have called it
Johnny Sokko and his Fighting Robot and made it more interesting), but yet it was decent. There's no doubt that
Real Steel had potential - lots of it. But the characterisation felt flat - specially the kid's character which was too over-confident and annoying for his age. Hugh Jackman did okay, but seemed bereft of emotions. Others did their part, but the highlight of the film - robots beating the crap out of each other, was surprisingly done pretty well. There is a
Wall-E moment when Max's robot, Atom, stares at itself in the mirror. But the makers don't go down that path, which could otherwise have been a superb turn for the premise of the movie.
All in all, a decent entertainer.
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