Preview: Real Steel (2011)

Synopsis:

A quasi-futuristic society where boxing has moved from health-harming physical combat to electronic combat pitting one human-controlled robot against another.

• Poster: C+

Review:

It's hard to describe how unimpressive this poster is. It's formulaic. It tries hard to sell a Hugh Jackman/fighting robot film without really looking like it wants to sell it.

• Trailer: C; D+

Review:

It's sad when the first thought while watching a preview is how far Hugh Jackman has gone away from complex role acceptance and moved towards money-making trash. This doesn't look even remotely interesting.

When I first saw the original trailer, I didn't think highly of it. This second trailer is nearly identical and I think even less of it now. This lacks any sense of originality, stealing nearly every element from better films. It's so cliche-ridden that I'm surprised why they didn't just turn it into an animated film and save themselves some money by adapting other films and animating on top of them.

Oscar Prospects:

It releases late enough in the year that it could be remembered in the tech categories. I would say Sound Editing is it's best shot, though an appearance on the Visual Effects short list would not be surprising.

Release Date:

• October 7, 2011

Full Review Synopsis:

I have not seen this film.

-Wesley Lovell (December 10, 2010) Original

-Wesley Lovell (October 2, 2011) New Trailer; New Poster