Review by Josh Drake
I expected this movie to be bad, but it ends up being bad for reasons I didn't expect. The robot boxing scenes are actually good and the concept is okay. It's the dialog and characters that blow. Wait, I expected that too.
Plenty to complain about as soon as the movie starts. Opening scene is pretty stupid, for a number of reasons. No one's actions make any sense - neither Charlie's nor the promoters.
Then there's the courtroom scene, with incredible on the nose dialog like "you've been playing with robots so long you've become one."
I have trouble watching characters who are this stupid.
Lot of stuff just left me shaking my head. Bad conversations, inconsistent behavior. Kid calls his dad stupid for making a bad bet and going into a fight when he didn't know the opponent, 5 minutes later kid is doing the exact same thing.
The Q&A with team zeus is painful.
Are you kidding me with this dance sequence??
Oh, I suppose I should explain the plot.
Charlie is a deadbeat who attempts to make money with robots in boxing matches. He's not good at it. One day he finds out an old ex-girlfriend died, leaving their son an orphan. Charlie has to go to court and sign the kid over to his aunt, which he is more than happy to do, until he finds out the aunt married rich and hustles the husband for some money. In exchange, Charlie has to take the kid for the summer. Naturally, they bicker then bond over robots.
It has moments, but overall is ruined by bad dialog. Similar to Speed Racer, Real Steel is visually appealing and leaves a half decent impression on your mind. But any time you sit down to experience the movie again, you quickly remember how intolerable many elements are.
Music by Danny Elfman. Tim Burton let him out of his cage.
First Viewing: 3+1+2+2+1 = 9