Real Steel – A Real Deal

 Director: Shawn Levy

Actors: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly

Ratings: 3.5 out of 5

In our technological age we crave for it so much that even brainless film with a lot of tech and action thrown in works. The loud, garish and pointless ‘Transformers’ series is a case in point. Yet, a sci-fi, technological film need not be so bad. Want proof, watch ‘Real Steel’ that combines the best of tech effects with the soul of ‘Rocky’.

In a not so distant future, robot boxing is big. Charlie (Hugh Jackman), a cocky promoter spoils his chances by making some rash calls. An unsentimental guy he even uses the son Max (Dakota Goyo) he had deserted for money. However, the sensibility and sensitivity of this 11 year old kid changes his fortune and his life as a junk robot with a heart of steel and the ‘soul’ of a champion turns out to be a winning prizefighter.

It should be clear at the onset that there’s really nothing original at all about ‘Real Steel’. And it’s not even a very creative reworking of clichés that most art films these days seem to be. Instead, it plays along with the cliché, but with the endearing lightness that makes it a worthwhile watch. Despite its hackneyed plot and predictable subplots, it has the nimble footwork of a heavyweight boxer who manages to ‘fly’ as he boxes.

The non-living, junkyard robot Atom becomes a metaphor for the liveliest emotions we know: love, courage and a never-say-die-spirit. That it takes an inanimate object to arouse human feelings in Charlie is a commentary on our life and times and our obsession for everything external. His wins as an abandoned thing thus become the victories of what is truly important in life, but which we have relegated into the junkyards of our lives. These emotions are indeed the atoms of our very existence.

The man, his son and their reconnecting link. 

The film will remind you of ‘Rocky’ and surprisingly the ending too is similar. And that is another beautiful thing about the film and its message. You don’t have to win to prove a point. The real victory in life is in doing something with passion, standing tall with courage and the ability to never give up despite the odds.

There’s tenderness in the father-son relationship, despite its clichés, that will tug at your heart. The chemistry between the actors playing it Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo only adds to it.  

The special-effects are gentle and subtle enough not to jar like in ‘Transformers’. That is because the driving force is the story, not the robots. Those who liked huge metal things fighting or like boxing and wrestling, will love the film.  

It is thus surprising that Steven Spielberg, who is also the producer of the ‘Transformer’ series, also produces this. For Indian cine lovers there’s another reason to watch ‘Real Steel’. It has been co-produced by our very own Reliance Entertainment and of the five odd films they have produced so far, this is by far the best. 

This review has been written for the wire service, Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).