"Real Steel" Movie Trailer Review

"Real Steel"

Movie Trailer Review

By our guest blogger, Jeremy Wilkinson

At first glance, “Real Steel” seems a little silly and an easy target for parody thanks to its resemblance to Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Upon closer inspection, well, it’s still a little silly. Director Shawn Levy is used to that tone, thanks to his experience helming the “Night at the Museum” movies and “Date Night,” among others. Sadly, from the short trailer, it is unclear whether it will work for this film.

Hugh Jackman stars as Charlie Kenton, a presumably down-and-out fighter who used to headline main events. Now, he controls a robot that battles other robots in the squared circle. Why, exactly, have robots taken the place of humans in the ring? Charlie’s voice over says how flesh can fail but “the steel never stops.” But who needs back-story when you have two metal boxers wailing on each other?

The rest of the trailer shows us just that – robot fighters engaging one another for the enjoyment of the crowd. Except for Charlie’s robot, which is predominately silver and unadorned, each fighter is built to have showy accessories and is painted in bright colors, not unlike costumes wrestlers wore in the late eighties and early nineties.

It comes across like a summer special effects popcorn movie--most of what we’re given in the trailer are scenes of robots fighting without too many hints of Charlie’s motivations for doing what he does. Not that the trailer really needs it. Robots are the main draw here. The CG used to bring them to life is good and their designs are understandably outlandish given the spectacle of fighting.

And yet, there isn’t anything here that makes it stand out and say ‘blockbuster.’ Sure, the battles look fairly entertaining, but not enough to draw in a big crowd. Boxing robots in the post-Transformers age are not enough to carry a film alone. The initial reaction of “hey, that’s pretty cool” quickly wears off once you play the trailer again. Even Jackman’s presence as a leading man doesn’t give much gravity to what is in effect an apparently baseline production.

Based on what is shown, “Real Steel” could end up being a fun popcorn movie. More likely, it will end up being a forgettable beat ‘em up; simply okay, but nothing more.


View the trailer below. Thoughts?