Real Steel

Airheaded nonsense. To duck when Alex battles Atom, to tremble when Evangeline Lilly smiles, and to cheer for the most likable guy in Hollywood face-to-face as you watch Hugh Jackman's expressions during the final bloody duel. Bravery for all those who are not afraid to look into the eyes of their younger self. (07/01/2014)

I will probably be seen as a fool, but I simply liked this film. I wasn't expecting to have a highly enlightening philosophical experience from it, nor to be artistically fulfilled in any way. While Hugh Jackman did star in "The Fountain," which I consider significantly better than the film "The Tree of Life" reviewed in this article, "Real Steel" definitely didn't seem like an artistically ambitious movie from the beginning. We won't get anything like that either. It is a blockbuster that wants to impress us visually, which it succeeds in quite well because the robot fights are fantastic, and at the same time, it wants to present us with an undemanding, simple, and overly Hollywood-like story. Charlie is a loser, a former boxer who had to adjust a bit. In the near future, people don't want to see humans fighting anymore, with blood splattering all over, but fighting robots. Strange, but so be it. Robot boxing is the music of the future, and Charlie had to become a fighter, that is, the one who controls the robot in the ring. The robots here are not humanized in any way, but essentially, they are like shrunken "Transformers." Charlie may be a loser, but a loser who discovers that he has a son who surprisingly could help him and make him a true champion. Don't worry, there won't be any blood, so you can watch the film with children without any problems, and they will be happy to see that the ugly old robot could possibly become the champion of champions. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/08/warrior-x-ms-1-sibir-5x-rychle-zbesile.html (25/02/2013)

One of the most enjoyable mainstream Hollywood movies of the year. Though it’s packed with clichés about family values, it’s not annoying. The film skilfully blends elements of the ’80s with modern trends and it’s obvious that the filmmakers love their story and characters and care about the result. And that’s something rare in the Hollywood mainstream (Rise of the Planet of the Apes was also surprising in the same way this year, and to an even greater extent). Shawn Levy has finally shown himself to be a very good, enthusiastic director who only needs a high-quality screenplay (Real Steel touches the heart more than Spielberg’s Tintin). The precisely written characters devotedly played by Hugh Jackman and young Dakota Goyo make the film personal and sincere. The emotions between them are enhanced by the brisk energy of the great robot boxing matches, which know exactly where to add and where to take away. Real Steel made me happy and filled me with positive energy. (06/11/2011)

Transformers has a lot of money for breathtaking effects, but Real Steel has heart, which is the most important thing. Straightforward family entertainment with a straightforward script and an annoying wise geezer in the main role. But everything is so nice, and even the annoying wise geezer ends up begin likeable, that it was a lot of fun to watch. In a nutshell, a pleasant surprise, though the robot fights could have been shot with more dynamism and tension, they felt too much like a routine. Overall, though, nice pop-corn fun. (06/01/2012)

A watchable popcorn flick with a clear target audience, built on boxing movie clichés and relying solely on the core robot gimmick. It's pulled forward by the likeable Jackman and the fights in the ring, but it's knocked down by predictability and a runtime that is too ambitious for such a simple film. For one viewing only, but definitely a nice sci-fi nod to the Rocky of the genre. (15/08/2018)