My 8 1/2 year old son is a tough guy and loves fighting and guns, and all things boy. I tried to keep him from these things when he was young but I realized this is in the DNA of many boys. So I stopped fighting it.
With that said, what do you think he thought of a movie with fighting and robots? It was all summed up in the one word he spoke to the Disney representative that asked his opinion as he was bouncing out of the movie theater after we saw the preview. “Awesome.” That sums up his entire feeling about the movie.
I also thoroughly enjoyed it. There were no new themes here, you can see from the synopsis below. But, the challenge these days is to bring the old stories to the screen in a new way. DreamWorks completely accomplished this. The special effects, which were a combo of a man in a robot suit on stilts (Eddie Davenport) in a green motion-capture suit, mixed with some amazing precision moves, made for an excellent and amazing experience. Hugh Jackman was terrific with all the physical routines he had to go through. And the boy playing his son, Dakota Goya, stole more than a few scenes (apologies to my new friend Hugh!).
Scroll down to the bottom for the paparazzi shots (just Hugh) and a video from today’s roundtable discussion.
Synopsis:
A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future where the sport of boxing has gone high-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.
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Disclosure: I received tickets to review the movie. All opinions are always 100% my own and my son’s and honest.
Hugh Jackman talking about the controlled violence that boys need to experience. I found this out from my own experience of having a son. If it is controlled through sports, or extracurricular activities like karate or tae kwon do, it can serve the boy in a positive way that is acceptable to society. For more videos, feel free to check out my youtube page!
Some pictures from the event where I got to sit this close to movie star, Hugh Jackman!
ain’t it the truth? when my boys were little, we did the whole gender neutral toy thing…until i realized that they just pushed their blocks around pretending they were cars and they were picking sticks up in the backyard to use as guns *sighs* boys will be boys…but WE as parents can encourage our kids to be loving kind beings, regardless of gender *steps off her soapbox* lol