Hey Everybody, This is LarryVaried! This is the only blog in which I can do two totally different things on it in a row, and it's totally normal.

Now, once again, I will be reviewing a movie that has been out already for a bit of time. I aplogize for the lateness, and hoepfully (thanks to the release of Puss in Boots and In Time) I can get back on schedule. For now, enjoy this review.

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Hugh Jackman is not one of my favorite actors, but not one of my least favorites. He was good in the X-Men TRILOGY and he was good in Flushed Away (a very underrated DreamWorks production). However, I didn't enjoy his performance in Van Helsing or X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He's half and half for me. My faith was regained after his appearance on SNL as Daniel Radcliffe... but this movie did not. When this movie was announced as a "Rock-em Sock-em Robots" movie, it didn't sound good. Hollywood throughout the last 2 years has been announcing these stupid ideas for movies such as Monopoly, The Twilight Zone, a Pinocchio prequel, and Battleship (recently given a trailer). So, this was no exception of being facepalmed at. However after seeing the trailer I was surprised to see this movie was taking a somehwat different turn.

It wasn't looking like a Rock-em Sock-em Robots movie. It was looking like its own production. I can't say I was anticipating the release, but I decided to give it a shot. I ended up seeing this instead of The Three Musketeers the past weekend, and I can't say I wasn't happy about that decision.

It is the future, and human boxing has subsided and robots are the main event. Constantly falling out of luck these days, Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) owes a lot of people money and doesn't seem to have it available. Once again biting off more than he can chew, he is without a robot AND without money. He soon learns after his girlfriend's recent death that he needs to release custody of his son Max (Dakota Goyo). Because the uncle is filthy rich, Charlie sets up a scam. He'll get 100,000 dollars if he keeps the son for a summer ($50,000 at start). Charlie and Max don't get off on the right foot and Charlie's best friend Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly) is in the middle of it.

After ONCE AGAIN losing a good robot, Charlie and Max go to a scrap-yard and steal some parts. There, they find Atom, a generation 2 sparring robot with a rare "shadow mode" which allows you to follow others movements. Max has faith in Atom but Charlie and Bailey doubt its skill. Soon enough however Max starts to have a special relationship with Atom thus trying even harder to make he succeed. Soon, Charlie is proven wrong as Atom starts earning money, which means Charlie is in. The plot takes expected turns from there including a fight with the champion and a SURPRISING PLOT TWIST you'll expect.

Real Steel, to me, can be considered a guilty pleasure. It has many, many flaws that are easy to point out, but either way, you have fun with it. The movie has some plot pacing issues, lots of overracting, characters getting too much screen time and not getting fleshed out, it's incredibly cheesy, and it's VERY, VERY, VERY cliche. In the end however, the movie has a good script, very good acting, good emotional and comedic balance, extremely good special effects, and is halarious (sometimes unintentionally).

First off, let's talk about the plot. While the plot is silly, it's believable. You'll start to forget about how silly the movie's plot is once it gets into it. Being originally concieved as a plot for "Rock-em Sock-em Robots", it does the name justice, but the movie could be its own idea without the desperate concept. The plot MOSTLY paces itself well but at times feels a bit rushed to fit the timeslot. Also, there is one HUGE JUMP in plot that definitley does not make sense. Besides for that, the plot is engaging enough to be interesting.

The acting is very good, one of the highlights of the movie. Hugh Jackman once again proves to me he knows how to be funny, dramatic, and american-sounding. He is very skilled in tackling the script and has very good chemistry with every character. Dakota Goyo is pretty good as Max. In the beginning, he is incredibly obnoxious and annoying, but he'll grow on you. Evangeline Lilly is also good, has skills similar to Jackman and Goyo. Other actors who seem small (Anthony Mackle, Kevin Durand, Olga Fonda) get a little too much screen time then they deserve, but they are all around good actors. The only actor who I was not fond of wih Karl Yune or Tak Mashido. He was way to cliche for his own good, script and acting and all. Almost every other character in a way, shape, or form are crazy barbaric screamers. I am not gonna lie, every other character screams, is obnoxious, and goes crazy. While that is what it should be considering this is wrestling, it is still unintentionally halarious but in a good way thankfully.

The movie is very cheesy and cliche and really, cheesy I can understand, but cliche it didn't need to be. This is basically "Rocky" with robots, but they could've gone through twists and turns and they don't. If you've seen the typical "hero is first off sucky, then becomes a champion", there will only be one surprise at the end, but very mild. Another issue with the movie is that characters don't get as fleshed as they could be. Yes, they are side characters which is understandable, but some characters are the most cliche characters ever (Kevin Durand and Karl Yune specifically). Villains are villains, but make them fleshed villains. Kevin Durand hints at a backstory with Jackman, but it is never explained. Karl Yune says like 4 lines... more than I thought when I first saw him.

My god, are the special effects in this movie fantastic. The robot fights are extremely convincing, and the robots look awesome. The fights are incredibly engaging and you really start to care about the characters during these parts. This is the movie's greatest strength and you will probably agree after you watch. The soundtrack fits well with the fights and the sets look good. As I previously mentioned, the movie is unintentionally funny, but it has its good intentional jokes. They are a bit far between, but still, you will get PLENTY of laughs out of this flick.

To sum up, Real Steel isn't a HUGE guilty pleasure movie. The acting is good and the script is good. The graphics are fantastic and the chemistry is good. However, the movie has plot problems, characters aren't fleshed, it is cheesy at points, there is lots of overracting, and 98.9% of the movie is cliche. I won't say DON'T check it out, but I will say check it out if you can get past its issues. My grade for Real Steel is a:

6.5/10: Pretty Decent (It has flaws, but go watch it if you are interested. You won't be hugely dissapointed)

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So, there we go, my review of Real Steel. Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for a Halloween review coming VERY SOON!

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LarryVaried: http://www.youtube.com/user/LarryVaried

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- Larry :)