Robo-Fail by Nat4

Yesterday I sat in my living room with my mom and two sisters and came into Real Steel with an open mind. And oh boy, were our hopes shattered. Were it not for some good visual effects, a hopeful up-and-comer and a score by Oscar-nominee Danny Elfman, the film would be irredeemable.

Basically, the movie is set in the near future where boxing is done by robots (which is actually logical). A retired boxer Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) and his son Max (Dakota Goyo) discover a robot named Atom and the kid thinks the robot has the makings of a boxer and Charlie trains him. Add a pointless romance with Evangeline Lilly and your mediocrity is complete.

Though the premise does echo such GOOD films as Cinderella Man, Rocky and Ali, it could be an interesting film but it didn't amount to that. In this overly-predictable, frequently boring movie, you're going to have to try REALLY hard to find someone to root for.

Hugh Jackman's talent is wasted by a horrible script. Through the whole movie I could hear my sister yelling "You jerk!" Basically, he's unsympathetic father. And there went the potential father-son story.

Like Lily Collins in Abduction and Mirror Mirror, Dakota Goyo (who you may recognize as young Thor in Kenneth Branagh's Thor) is wasted by the poor script. His most authentic scenes are when he's interacting with the robot. He's been chosen to play young Noah in Darren Aronofsky's Noah and all I can think is "Darren, you're this kids only hope."

Evangeline Lilly's character is almost entirely pointless. She's supposed to be Hugh Jackman's girlfriend and a strong-willed woman but she comes off as incredibly annoying. She's been chosen to be in Peter Jackson's Hobbit films. God help us all.

To make matters worse, the visual effects are good and Danny Elfman's music is too. But that's the problem. Nominated for an Oscar for the visual effects, it was it's only true logical nomination. They are not, however, the impressive feat of District 9's visual effects are (yes, I think the people who did District 9 managed to be cooler then Michael Bay's Transformers films (before you scream and moan I still like the effects). While Danny Elfman's score is there, it's buried under horrible songs.

The worst part is the director and executive producer. Shawn Levy (the director) so far has had a good track record (I've enjoyed Big Fat Liar and both Night at the Museum's). Nonetheless, this film doesn't feel like his movie. And Steven Spielberg (the executive producer)....man, you need to replace your agent.

In my eyes, this is only topped by G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (thanks Real Steel, Chanting Tatum saved you.) I give it a 0.5 out of 4.