Real Steel

Thank you Sky Broadband for finally restoring access to Blogger hosted blogs. I haven't forgiven you yet though. You seriously need to get your act together. The boyfriend has been asking about my Real Steel post and the lousy excuse I have for not posting is that my blog is inaccessible. Ugh. Well it's true though. That and the fact that my offline blog editor Windows Live Writer isn't working. 

Anyhoo. Real Steel.

If you're a follower of my personal blog, Where the Moon Shines, you would have already heard about my month-long stay in the hospital. Even before being confined, I was already prepared to come out with real steel on my back - and now I do. I am now bionic, with a small metal plate and screw on my back to lessen the possibility of another slip disc in my future. 

But that's not the real steel the boyfriend was referring too. He's referring to blogging about our thing with the movie, Real Steel.

Source: http://tmakworld.com/2011/09/real-steel-movie-review-advanced.html

Along with a lot of other good movies, I missed the 2011 showing of Real Steel in cinemas. Thanks to cable TV though, I have seen it a number of times and I've really liked it. It seems that I like it so much that I actually watched it three more times during my first seven days in the hospital. 

There's just something about the film that whenever we're channel surfing looking for something to watch and it lands on Star Movies with this on, no matter at what point in the film, we'll stop and watch. Each time we watch we also find something to discuss. Something new to point out. And every time we still see it showing now, we look at each other and laugh!

I think it's a good idea to have robots fight each other instead of real boxing or MMA. No blood, and no one getting hurt. But this doesn't seem to be anywhere in our future just yet. 

Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) was quite endearing. He had a tough-guy image having been a boxer and now boxing behind his robots. He receives summons to the custody hearing for a son he's never had anything to do with, and his life starts to change. He had initially relinquished his rights to custody over to his ex-wife's sister. But a deal with her husband got Charlie a hundred thousand dollars to look after young Max until they get back from a cruise. The 50% down payment is used to purchase a robot from the black market and although Max isn't happy about being 'sold,' he easily fits right in with Charlie's life with his fascination for fighting bots. 

The first night Max is out with Charlie wasn't pretty. They lose the legendary Noisy Boy because Charlie didn't take the time to know his moves and controls. But that same night, a near-tragedy also leads to a wonderful discovery. Max almost falls into a junk yard pit but was 'saved' by a bot's hand (and his dad). He insists on digging it out and dragging it home with them. When they finally see it for what it is the next day, they find an old bot that was probably used for practicing real fighting bots.

Max is every inch his father's son and by sheer will he convinces Charlie to sign them up for a fight, and another, and another. And the rest, they say, is history. :)

My favorite scenes include Max teaching Atom how to dance outside the motel. Pretty cute. Here's a Youtube video (embedding is disabled, too bad but you've got to see it). 

Another favorite is seeing Charlie fly during the final round in the fight against Zeus:

Image Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/real-steel-review/

Both these scenes are trumped only by the scene right after Atom defeats Twin Cities in his first ever league fight. If you've seen the movie then you know that this is when Max jumps up to the stage, takes the mic from the announcer and challenges Farrah Lemkova for a head to head fight between Atom and world champion Zeus. 

It is also after that scene that Charlie and Max get beat up by a bully that Charlie owed money to (Ricky somebody, with his goons and hoyo de monterrey cigars). I think that was the first time Max called Charlie Dad. Bitter-sweet. 

Anyway. I'd have to admit that the father-son relationship that developed was quite predictable but nonetheless it warmed the heart.