Real Steel
Rocky of scrap
Boxing is a frequent theme in cinema, with hundreds of titles, some of which are truly anthological, such as “Raging Bull” (USA, 1980), “Million Dollar Baby” (USA, 2004), “Rocky” (USA, 1976) and “Rocky Balboa” (USA, 2006). The movie “Real Steel” (USA, 2011), by Dreamworks, associates boxing with another common character in cinema, robots, with a surprising result.
Boxing is a brutal sport that has been present in men’s history for centuries. Why is it so attractive, both for the real show and for the cinema? This question may have countless answers, but perhaps it is the fact that it is a means for anyone – with the necessary physique and skills, of course – to achieve fame and fortune.
Add to that the fact that the sport is fantastically cinematographic, with both opponents in the arena, I mean, in the ring, cheered by thousands of bloodthirsty people. In addition to visual plasticity, there is always the possibility of the imponderable, when David can beat Goliath…
This is where this movie literally rests. The environment in which the action takes place is in the curious future of 2020, when fights with human beings were banned. To give vent to sports lovers, a technological and more, let’s say, ecological solution was found.
The solution was to manufacture robots to replace humans in the rings, and although they literally fall apart, there is not a drop of blood, at most hydraulic oil and a bunch of broken pieces destined for the junk yard. Robots are nothing more than big toys operated by remote control, without any kind of intelligence.
It is in this underworld that lives Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), a former and promising boxer, who saw his career disappear with the ban on human fights. Today he survives by promoting clandestine fights with second-tier robots, sometimes fighting bulls and other exotic opponents.
Charlie lives completely wrapped up in debts, getting into bets he can’t win, traveling through the interior of the United States with no prospect in life. The only person who supports him is his girlfriend Bailey (Evangeline Lilly), who can’t afford his messes anymore.
One day, Charlie receives a call informing him that an old girlfriend has died, and that he should take over custody of his son, Max (Dakota Goyo), who he knew existed but had no idea even how old the boy was.
Realizing that the boy’s aunt wanted to keep him, Charlie negotiates with her husband to give up custody in exchange for $100,000. The problem is that the couple should travel abroad and Charlie must stay with the boy until their return.
Without paying much attention to the boy, Charlie wants to leave him with his girlfriend, focused in a new robot. But, the boy is much more willful than he had thought, and practically forced his father to take him with him.
The first fight is a disaster, and the new robot is totally destroyed. With no money and no robot to compete, Charlie breaks into a junkyard to steal parts and build a new automaton.
There, they encounter Atom, an old sparring robot that was used to train the most sophisticated machines. They manage to get it up and running, and thanks to the boy’s insistence, Charlie uses his own boxing knowledge to operate the robot, without relying on computer programs.
The robot soon draws the attention of the world’s mighty league as he participates in a preliminary fight, and Max uses the media attention by launching the challenge against the league’s most powerful fighter, the unbeatable Zeus.
As he struggles with former creditors, his girlfriend’s debts, the temptations of easy money and the growing love for his previously unknown son, Charlie will have to face the most important battle of his life.
Despite being a film about boxing and robots, “Real Steel” manages to go much further, transforming a sterile story into an intimate drama, showing with great delicacy the difficulty of the relationship between father and son. It is curious when the spectator, in his moment of greatest complicity with the author, manages to realize that the greatest battle is not being fought inside the ring, but in the hearts involved.
The emotion that is transmitted in the film owes a lot to Jackman, who is distancing himself from the character Wolverine, and to the boy Dakota Goyo, who practically carries the film on his back.
Technically, the movie is impeccable, and although the scenes of robots have been produced on computer, are perfect and with a speed compatible with the audience’s vision. So it is possible to accompany everything easily, and with the same excitement of the fights from the movies aforementioned.
The success of the film’s special effects scenes is due to the use of real boxers, who were filmed in special clothes, full of sensors, and then redone on a computer. In addition, real robots, with up to twenty controllers, were used to move each of its parts.
The similarities to the movie “Rocky” are remarkable, not only with the unknown boxer who challenges the champion, but the endless fight, which is decided by points. Furthermore, Zeus, in Greek mythology, was the father of Apollo, the name of the champion challenged by Rocky.
“Real Steel” is a fun and sensitive film that is sure to please the whole family. I recommend.