“STEEL” REAL GOOD

REAL STEEL

Starring Hugh Jackman,

Dakota Goyo,

Evangeline Lilly,

Anthony Mackie,

Kevin Durand,

Hope Davis,

Karl Yune

Directed by Shawn Levy

Written by John Gatins

Based on a story by Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven

Running time 127 mins.

Rated PG-13

          Stories with forms of artificial life work when they question what it means to be human, what it means to be alive. They make us wonder what is real, make us question reality itself.

          What makes “Real Steel” work is its humanity. The heart of the story is the relationship between a father and his son. (Yet again.) It’s a character-driven story, and that’s what pulls the high-flying aspect of giant remote-control boxing robots.

          First smart move with “Real Steel” is in not calling it “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots–The Movie.” I love it when a film doesn’t say Hasbro at the start. I also suspect that “Iron Man 2" played a role in this one’s genesis. The best part about that movie is when Downey Jr. and the other guy go toe-to-toe in the suits. But the second smart move, once greenlighted, was focusing on the characters over the special effects.

          Think “The Iron Giant” plus “The Champ” meet Wii.

          Upshot: Ex-boxer (Jackman) scrapes living getting his robot fights at fairs with whatever is available, then finds the young son (Goyo) he abandoned years ago suddenly appearing in his life for a summer. As their relationship improves, so do the chances of their robot in getting a title fight.

          With most robot movies, we expect the kid to have a special friendship with the misunderstood robot, or we see the character of the robot shine through as it encounters the world around it. “Real Steel” isn’t like that. It’s clear that the robots are remotely controlled machinery. When Jackman and the kid get a robot an underground fight (outdoors) with a bigger, uglier robot, there’s a “Max Max Beyond Thunderdome”-ish feel with Mohawk-sporting punks screaming and frothing at the faux-gladiatorial display.

          Beautifully produced and excellently shot, “Real Steel” captures the imagination. Particularly in the first half. I think it does devolve considerably toward the end into the sort of sappiness we can’t help but expect–even to the point of scapegoating an Asian dude and a Russian babe as the Goliath-like face of corporate crime--but overall it’s quite good. Robot round card girls referencing “Metropolis” makes me all tingly, as does the Golem-like removal of a robot from the mud.

          When we see the physical correlation between the kid controlling the dad who needs to become a man, and the dad controlling the commensurately taller robot that takes terrible beatings before winning, the film is at the top of its game. But when “Steel” starts looking like the end of all the “Rocky” sequels, it runs out of steam and gets all clunky.