Surprised in the Best Possible Way!
Let me first say that I had no idea what to expect when I walked into the theater tonight. I’d heard Real Steel had received good reviews, so out of the four movies offered for my school’s free movie night (Moneyball, Horrible Bosses, Real Steel, &Insidious) I chose Real Steel. It was definitely a fantastic choice.
The first 10-15 minutes are a little slow as this movie eases into the story as opposed to opening with a bang like quite a few recent releases. You’re not left with that feeling long, and as the movie progresses it yanks you along through a roller coaster of emotions and reactions. This movie brings quite a bit to the table with drama, fight sequences, humor, and a multifaceted storyline that contains depth and subtlety in terms of weaving together the main focus with character development and motivation.
I will be the first to admit that college students are a more…difficult crowd to reach with a movie like this. However, I sat there in that theater amid a crowd of my peers moving along the emotional spectrum from disgust to heartache to flat out euphoria. Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of Charlie is fantastic, but the greatest performance came surprisingly from Dakota Goyo as he plays Max Kenton. This movie had all of us laughing, crying (over 75% of us, guys included), and by the end we were all literally on our feet cheering with the crowd on screen.
Real Steel has depth, character, humor, and that little extra something that makes a movie stand out amongst the sea of competitors. I know I speak for not only myself, but the rest of my fellow viewers as well when I say we left the theater satisfied and feeling inspired. This film is definitely a must see for all ages (despite some minor curses here and there)!!!
It certainly gets 5/5 stars in my book.