In a time when people practically only talk about flops and mega-successes, the ones that are often really nice but don’t go through the roof end up being talked about little tips often forgotten. Especially when the director and main actors of such a production shortly afterwards outshine everything else with particularly large franchises.
But that’s exactly why we’re here: to get back to you lovable, perhaps slightly strange and unique smaller films to remember. This includes an old collaboration between director Shawn Levy and Hugh Jackman – two thirds of the monster trio behind Deadpool & Wolverine. In 2011, the two created an ingenious action tip with Real Steel – Steel-Hard Opponents, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
In Real Steel on Amazon Prime, an ex-boxer and his son build the perfect fighting robot
Charlie Kenton (Jackman) is long past his best days. The crowds once roared his name and celebrated him as a boxing champion. But some personal decisions and the emergence of the Robot boxing matches cost him his career and his fame. Now he can only “shine” as a promoter for the machine matches and is pretty burned out.
When his little son Max (Dakota Goyo) arrives on the scene and can’t simply be sent away, Charlie no longer knows where his head is at. After one bitter loss he takes Max with him to steal robot parts from a scrap dump. Max finds a perfectly preserved steel comrade and insists on taking him with him.
Atom is the name of the new robot. It’s actually only built for sparring with the actual Robo-Stars. But Max knows that within him the potential to become a champion slumbers. With Charlie’s boxing expertise and the iron will of a boy and his robot, the team throws themselves into the fight – and amazes the whole world.
Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, is the perfect action mix of Rocky and Pacific Rim
Real Steel gives us a classic athlete underdog story. Rocky in steel and electronics. That in and of itself is a formula that – lovingly told as in this case – actually always works when you just want to have fun for a few hours and feel a little warm in your heart in the cold season.
The film’s great strength, however, is not just the emotional component skillfully carried by Jackman, which beautifully comes into focus with the father-son and coach-athlete relationships. The fights themselves can also take place thanks to the robots as boxers really go all out.
When hydraulic fists hit steel with flying sparks, when entire limbs fly with a scream from the crowd, the action puts a huge grin on your face. We look like little children epic clunkers like you only see in Gundam fights and Pacific Rim. It still packs a punch 13 years later – thanks to visual effects that have aged really well.
So if you are looking for a very special kind of boxer action, you will with Real Steel on Amazon Prime Video find exactly the right thing.
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