Orange Twofers: Real Steel 26/10/11
Oct. 27th, 2011 01:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaceyI'd read a couple of half hearted reviews before going to see this, so my expectations weren't enormously high. But I figured Hugh Jackman and Evangeline Lilly (Lost) - what's not to like? Well;, OK, that's Hugh Jackman in a father-and-son movie centred around giant boxing robots who have replaced humans in the ring. And these guys don't wear gloves, it's machines fighting to destruction.
The real star of this movie is Dakota Goyo, already with 16 film and TV credits listed on IMDB at the age of 11. This kid is seriously good and I hope he continues to grow as an actor. He'll be a fearsome talent if he does.
OK, the plot was predictable. Feckless absentee father down on his uppers, eking a living by 'driving' a boxing robot suddenly discovers his 11 year old son needs a dad. It takes a while for the penny to drop, but it all finally comes together without too much sentimentality. Evangeline Lilly is lovely as the more-than-friend and the only stability in Jackman's chaotic life.
Father and son eventually come together to rebuild and train a scrap heap robot boxer, Atom, and take him through various rounds to a championship fight. Rocky meets Iron Man? Mahybe, but it kept attention. And if there were slug-it-out robot fights at least there weren't any car chases. That's a win in itself.
Of course it was half-term, so the cinema was not only full of kids, but it was full of incontinent kids (and adults). I wish I had a shiny penny for everyone who dashed out to the loo while the movie was playing. (Grumble - grumble - grump!)
Movie 7/10. Audience 2/10.
The real star of this movie is Dakota Goyo, already with 16 film and TV credits listed on IMDB at the age of 11. This kid is seriously good and I hope he continues to grow as an actor. He'll be a fearsome talent if he does.
OK, the plot was predictable. Feckless absentee father down on his uppers, eking a living by 'driving' a boxing robot suddenly discovers his 11 year old son needs a dad. It takes a while for the penny to drop, but it all finally comes together without too much sentimentality. Evangeline Lilly is lovely as the more-than-friend and the only stability in Jackman's chaotic life.
Father and son eventually come together to rebuild and train a scrap heap robot boxer, Atom, and take him through various rounds to a championship fight. Rocky meets Iron Man? Mahybe, but it kept attention. And if there were slug-it-out robot fights at least there weren't any car chases. That's a win in itself.
Of course it was half-term, so the cinema was not only full of kids, but it was full of incontinent kids (and adults). I wish I had a shiny penny for everyone who dashed out to the loo while the movie was playing. (Grumble - grumble - grump!)
Movie 7/10. Audience 2/10.
