MOVIE REVIEW: Real Steel

It's like watching a giant robot boxing video game on the movie screen...

On Monday night, I and my son were invited to an advance screening of the new DreamWorks Pictures’ movie Real Steel that was shown at the Uptown Palladium in Birmingham. MI. It turned out to be one exciting film that we both enjoyed from beginning to end.

Real Steel takes place in the year 2020 where boxing is now done  by robots that fight to the death.  Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a washed up former fighter turned robot boxing promoter that has been down on his luck for a good while.  Charlie has been trying to hit it big in robot boxing, but ends up owing large sums of money to some very dangerous people.

One day he finds out that his former girlfriend has died, leaving him as the official guardian to his 11 year old son Max (played by Dakoto Goyo), who Charlie has not seen since since Max was a baby.  Max's aunt (played by Hope Davis) wants Charlie to give up custody of Max to her and her very rich husband.   And Charlie sees this situation as a way to get quick cash to buy another fighting robot so that he can get out of debt.

But what Charlie does not count on is the fact that his son Max is one tough kid that shows him how to have the heart to try to win again against the odds.  And Max teaches Charlie that when you do what you love, the money will come.

Real Steel is an exciting and endearing film.  Even though we all knew how the story would end, we could not help cheering for Charlie as he discovers how to finally be a dad and how to finally be a winner. And Dakoto Goyo who played Max is one awesome kid actor who made everyone in the audience fall in love with him.  My son likes his movies exciting and the fight scenes in Real Steel are in your face loud and graphic.  It was like watching a giant robot boxing video game on the movie screen.

The most exciting part of the movie for me were the scenes that were filmed right here in Detroit.  Yep, this movie contains footage and aerial shots of downtown Detroit, including Cobo Hall and the GM Renaissance Center.  I was bursting with Detroit pride when I saw my city on the big screen.

Just a warning to parents that this film is rated PG-13 because of the graphic boxing violence and because it contains quite a bit of adult language.  

If you like a really good underdog story that is funny, captivating and heartfelt, Real Steel delivers on all counts and will open in theaters nationwide on Friday, October 7th, 2011.

WIN: Enter my "Real Steel" Contest to win movie swag. CONTEST ENDS October 12th at Noon EST.

READ my interview with actor Dakota Goyo who plays Max in the movie.

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WIN PASSES TO AN ADVANCE SCREENING OF REAL STEEL
If you have a Twitter account, you could win passes to an advance screening of the movie.  Click here for my info...

Enjoy!


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