Real Steel

As they should be, the robots at the centre of family-oriented action pic Real Steel are the main draw and the strongest selling point. They're exciting, interesting, well designed, and extremely cool. The movie is best when they're on screen and pretty much any reason the movie works can be traced back to the battling machines that make up the narrative's core concept. The robots are a ton of fun, but despite everything they bring to the movie, Real Steel still beats with a human heart. A really gooey, gross human heart. One that pumps syrup instead of blood. The kind that makes you crave an emotion that isn't cued by a soaring cheeseball score. But the hokey heart and the rambunctious robots are a package deal and in the battle for silly supremacy, those boisterous bots emerge the victors.

Using Richard Matheson's story Steel as inspiration, screenwriter John Gatins, semi-joined by Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven, who receive "story" credits, and director Shawn Levy don't waste any time cutting to the chase. The opening of the movie is effectively economical in its setup. Within minutes, we have the setting (a near future where human boxing has been replaced by a brutal robot equivalent) and we understand protagonist Charlie's predicament (he's an idiotic jerk who is deep in debt and really bad at making money in the robot fighting business).

Since Charlie is played by charmer Hugh Jackman, the character is never quite a big enough jerk to make us dislike him. He's just an expert at making bad decisions, placing bets he can't match, and finding himself on the losing end of various battles. We also learn early on that he's a deadbeat dad, but Jackman still flashes his smile wide enough that we're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. When Charlie gets saddled with having to take care of his teen son Max (a passable, though somewhat annoying Dakota Goyo) for a little while, Charlie instantly looks for a way out. But that big huggable heart starts generating saccharine and it's clear that Real Steel needs to turn into a movie about the power of a really hokey excuse for father/son bonding.

But it's still also a movie about large robots punching each other in the face, so the movie remains entertaining and fun even as it clumsily attempts to make some sense of whatever goofy nonsense it considers drama. With Charlie down on his luck and out of robots to enter in fights, Max gives him one more chance when he unearths a junky old robot named Atom. Training begins and an underdog tale is born! As the story progresses, the inevitable growth of the originally non-existent and then strained relationship between father and son at least parallels the intended off-screen increase in excitement surrounding robot action. The robot fights allow for the bonding (it's easier for Charlie to love his kid when the kid loves his livelihood) and it isn't too difficult to join them in their growing enthusiasm.

Levy does a good job of establishing this near future and he quite comfortably roots the events in a believable reality. We don't know the exact current date, but since a 2016 match is mentioned as a thing of the past, it's likely that we're looking at something close to an additional decade being tagged on to our own timeline. Levy wisely limits most objects to an appearance that is very similar to their real world counterparts, instead allowing the design team to lightly update technology like mobile phones and radios. In the midst of these minor changes, there are the key alterations that help sell the concept. In one scene, a dilapidated zoo has been refashioned as the site of a grimy underground robot battle. Specially designed trucks drive along highways as they transport precious robot cargo. And then there are the stadiums.

Massive structures designed to house the ultimate entertainment in the World Robot Boxing league offer all the glitz and glamour such a sport can muster. Levy even teases the flashy, infectious energy of the modified ring by letting us wander the outer areas of a stadium at one point. By combining this brief glimpse of expensive organized robot fighting (a ticket supposedly costs about three hundred dollars) with the seedy underground battles that take place in old buildings, abandoned zoos, or even carnivals, Levy manages to create a sense of anticipation for the inevitable. It's obvious where it's all headed, but at least Levy puts us on the bottom rung and lets us climb the ranks alongside Charlie, Max, and Atom. By the time Atom is ready to set foot in the big fancy ring, there's reason to be genuinely excited because we've escaped the dregs of the sport and have ascended to the gargantuan spectacle that waits at the top.

Of course, there's also a whole ton of treacle waiting for us, too. Levy likes to tug at our heartstrings throughout the movie, but during the big finale, he practically rips them out from pulling so hard. Every character is either screaming or scowling or crying or a combination of those three, depending on which robot they're cheering for. It's all incredibly over-the-top, which is almost fitting considering how similar this movie is to the 1987 Stallone vehicle Over the Top, which wasn't about robots, but was most certainly about an estranged father and son driving around in a big truck. But anyways, Levy cranks up the ridiculous emotion in the final act and the movie nearly overheats. Levy proves unable to punch through the steel wall of cliché and so he embraces all the silly sentimentality wholeheartedly.

It's a bit much in the end. Even the underdog aspect of the tale is almost too exaggerated. Levy stacks the deck so high against Charlie, Max, and Atom that the story's intentions begin to feel a little forced. Atom is just a Generation 2 robot and we don't even need to know what number current fighting robots are at to understand that 2 is pretty measly and underwhelming. Going up against a trash can would be a challenge, but Atom has to face off against an undefeated world champion who appears unstoppable. It's not going to be easy, but it's definitely going to be accompanied by an obnoxiously swelling score.

Even as the movie's strength begins to fade due to all that syrup in its veins, the robots still keep the giddy fun alive. Brought to life through a stunning display of animatronics and CGI, the big metal beasts are exquisite creations that wear every dent and scrape with metallic authenticity. There's a weight to the robot stars that really grounds them in this world and the steel-on-steel contact is convincing in its brawny, brutish mashing of metal. And the humans fare well enough despite the treacle. Jackman is likable and Evangeline Lilly makes the most of an underwritten female lead role, while Goyo is, well, not as annoying as he could be. Okay, so mostly faint praise for the humans. They're still good enough to not get in the way of the robots, who are the real stars of the movie. Now if only they could find a way to punch that human heart into better shape. Oh well. The syrup slows the machine down, but this Steel isn't rusted yet.