Click here to return to homepage
or 
Home > Categories > Movies > Action > Real Steel review
Sick of adverts? Click here to join up for free and be rid of them.
Sci-fi actioner set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech.
Hugh Jackman stars as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max to build and train a championship contender.
Product reviews...
Review by: kiwireviewer-00
Dated: 6th of October, 2011
Huge robots, beating the lubricant out of each other, while a derelict dad tries to work his way through a Devil's Deal over his son... hardly sounds like a kid's movie at first glance, does it? Strangely enough though, after seeing it, I can say that it IS indeed a kid's movie - because the kids in the audience LOVED it, while many of the adults were just sitting back and watching the fight scenes.
Now, from an adult's perspective: If you remove all the fight scenes, music and dance scenes... you have maybe 20-30 minutes of actual plot... and it's not exactly the deepest of plots. Does this remove anything from the movie's overall enjoyment? Not really actually... and this, of all else, is what surprised me the most. Seamless CGI effects, massive rankings on the "cute" scale thanks to young Mr Goyo, and a solid - if lacklustre - performance from Jackman.
The *biggest* disappointments for me, were the short lifespans of "Ambush" and "Noisy Boy" - they were some fine boxing 'bots and I really would have loved to have seen more of them. "Twin Cities" was also very cool, but I swear two heads just seems silly, when the 'drivers' are sitting ring-side anyway. 
From the perspective of an 11yr old: Awesome robot fighting, loved the dancing scenes but really it's all about the robots. Oh, and did I mention he loved the robots? Plot? Oh! the storyline... ummm... it was about robots fighting, and some kid who danced with a robot. And his dad built cool robots.
Yeah... that's about what I expected really. 
Overall, the one thing that made this movie amazing was seeing it on the huge IMAX screen in Auckland... the movie was good, huge it was better... all it needed was 3D to really top it off.
Guest comments...
There are currently no comments on file. Will you click here and be the first?
Random listing from 'Movies'...
Dating back to the time of Jesus Christ, an ancient relic known as the Loculus has been fought over by the forces of light and darkness down the centuries. Created in 50 AD, the wood panels of the Loculus are emblazoned with two images: the Ankh symbol - a looped crucifix - and the Caduceus - a rod entwined with two serpents.
On its perilous journey through history, the Loculus was further adorned with more arcane mystical imagery ... more...
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of KIWIreviews.co.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, under the assumption that they are the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an bacon-and-eggs breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' but the pig was 'committed'"
anonymous
