It will be impossible for Real Steel to avoid comparison to Michael Bay’s Transformers films, since they’re all ostensibly about giant anthropomorphized fighting robots. But despite the surface comparisons, the films don’t actually share very many qualities. The Transformers series is brash and loud, while Real Steel is a classic heartfelt underdog story with the DNA of Rocky, Over the Top, and many more sports movies pumping through its robotic veins. It’s manipulative in all the right ways – similar to this year’s other “against all odds in the ring” movie, Warrior – and even though it’s about robot boxing (I know, I thought it sounded stupid, too!), it’s actually a surprisingly effective story with relationships at its core.

In the near future, human boxing has become too boring for audiences thirsty for destruction. Flesh isn’t capable of sustaining the big hits that crowds demand, so boxers are replaced by robots. Ex-contender Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is down on his luck, touring the country doing robot boxing exhibitions he controls remotely from the sidelines. When his ex-wife dies, Charlie becomes responsible for the well-being of his estranged 11-year-old son, Max (Dakota Goyo). Stuck with the kid for the summer, Charlie soon realizes that Max is a video game nut who knows a thing or two about robots. With Charlie’s prizefighting experience and Max’s busted up old robot Atom (equipped with “shadow” function), the two set out to make it to the top and end up repairing their damaged relationship in the process.

For me, the biggest surprise of Real Steel wasn’t how much I enjoyed it, but that it came from director Shawn Levy. This is the same man who directed The Pink Panther remake, my disdain for which has been well-documented on this site. (I literally didn’t smile the entire time I watched that movie.) He has also directed less offensive fare, including the Night at the Museum movies and Date Night. But this is his first foray into any genre that isn’t comedy, and Real Steel proves the man deserves a chance to direct any genre he wants, since he convincingly pulled off a science fiction/sports/action/drama.

This is a pure underdog tale, and though the setting and broad concept may be original, it’s pretty standard as far as the story goes. But it’s a well-told story with some outstanding visual effects. Levy and his screenwriters make every beat work, and add some real zest to the fight sequences by using real life boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard as the motion capture actor for Atom, Max’s robot on the rise. The blending of CGI and practical effects is outstanding, combining computer created characters with real eight-foot-tall robots.

Hugh Jackman is believable as an ex-boxer, and his character is the kind of reckless rogue you love to hate. Evangeline Lilly plays Bailey, Charlie’s ex-lover, gym owner, and mechanic who helps the father and son team forge their relationship. Thankfully, Lilly separates herself from her “LOST” character Kate Austen; this isn’t a brilliant performance from the actress, but it’s enough to see she’s got potential and good to see she didn’t get pigeonholed into playing the same exact character in everything. And though it’s a well-documented fact that I’m not crazy about kids in movies – they are almost always written as either an annoying hindrance to the protagonist or a sage giver of advice – Dakota Goyo didn’t bother me because his character had perhaps the most common sense of anyone in the film. For the most part, he made good choices and smart suggestions, which is a relief to see on screen every once in a while. There are also some tiny moments for guys like Kevin Durand (in a “LOST” reunion with Lilly) and the inexcusably underutilized Anthony Mackie (Lilly’s co-star in The Hurt Locker…huh), but not enough from either to get excited about.

This movie was one of the biggest surprises of the fall for me, considering I laughed aloud when I saw its trailer for the first time. Despite the ludicrous concept, the story (based on Richard Matheson’s short story) is surprisingly effective and the movie earns all of its moments. To sum it all up in a quote for the poster: Real Steel is the real deal. Until next time…

Read similar posts to Review: Real Steel at Filmonic

DreamWorks Pictures has released the first teaser trailer for D.J. Caruso’s I Am Number Four which stars Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, Kevin Durand, Callan McAuliffe and Jake Abel.

The film follows John Smith (Pettyfer), a fugitive on the run from ruthless enemies sent to destroy him. Changing his identity, moving from town to town with his guardian Henri (Olyphant), John is always the new kid with no ties to his past. In the small Ohio town he now calls home, John encounters unexpected, life-changing events — his first love, powerful new abilities and a connection to the others who share his incredible destiny.

D.J. Caruso’s previous films include Disturbia and Eagle Eye (both starring Shia LaBeouf), so I Am Number Four could go either way. I think i’ll wait for the full trailer to see whether to spend money on it, but human-looking aliens with superhuman powers is an interesting concept.

I Am Number Four will be released 18 February 2011.

Read similar posts to I Am Number Four teaser trailer at Filmonic

The first trailer for Legion is now online thanks to Myspace. I didn’t know about this film until last month when we got the poster, and we were told that it was “angels with machine guns”. Having watched the trailer numerous times Legion has sky rocketed onto my “must see” list. The trailer is age-restricted as it contains blood and violence. It also shows an elderly lady telling everyone they are all going to f***ing die before taking a chunk out a man’s neck and scaling the walls (that’s after she tells a pregnant lady her unborn baby is going to f***ing burn).

It’s 5 minutes long, so get comfortable before you watch it!

Legion stars Paul Bettany, Tyrese Gibson, Doug Jones, Kevin Durand and Dennis Quaid, and will be released January 22nd in the US and March 5th in the UK.

Read similar posts to Red Band Legion trailer at Filmonic

USA Today got a cool video featuring nearly all of the mutant characters in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I was surprised to see that Emma Frost (Tahyna Tozzi) got a good speaking part in this, as we’ve only really seen her deflecting bullets with that diamond skin of hers in trailers. We also get to see more of Agent Zero (Daniel Henney), Stryker (Danny Huston) and The Blob (Kevin Durand).

Read similar posts to A sneak peek at the mutant characters in X-Men Origins: Wolverine at Filmonic

Universal have announced the cast for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (they still need to decide on a final title). We already knew of Russell Crowe as Robin Hood, Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian and Mark Strong as King John’s henchman. Joining them will be:

Vanessa Redgrave as John and Richard’s mother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
Oscar Isaac as King John
Léa Seydoux as the woman who will become queen, French Princess Isabella
Scott Grimes as Welshman Will Scarlet
Kevin Durand as Robin’s right-hand, Scotsman Little John
Alan Doyle as their troubadour, Irishman Allan Adayle

We also have a synopsis. From In Contention:

Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as Robin Hood, whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.

The untitled Robin Hood adventure chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion (Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.

With their country weakened from decades of war, embattled from the ineffective rule of the new king and vulnerable to insurgencies from within and threats from afar, Robin and his men heed a call to ever greater adventure. This unlikeliest of heroes and his allies set off to protect their country from slipping into bloody civil war and return glory to England once more.

Read similar posts to Robin Hood cast announced at Filmonic

Some of the characters that will be appearing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be larger than life, in more ways than one. We have the Blob, played by Kevin Durand in a fat suit, which should be a sight to see. We also have Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth, who was originally going to wear a muscle suit to bulk him up and make him look more menacing, however he decided he would get muscles his own way.

From Details magazine:

Just over a year ago, Schreiber was “smoking a pack and a half and drinking my nuts off” on a Broadway stage eight times a week in a blistering, virtuoso performance in Eric Bogosian’s Talk Radio. Then he was cast as Sabretooth, the supervillain in this summer’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, opposite his friend Hugh Jackman. (“The very large and very muscular Hugh Jackman,” he says.)

“I started to read blogs in the comic world with things like ‘That’s the dumpiest, most out-of-shape Sabretooth I’ve ever seen in my life!’” he says. “They gave me a muscle suit at the beginning. I was so humiliated I thought, I’ve got to try to do this on my own.” Jackman helped him train, putting him on a diet so poultry-intensive that Schreiber jokes they were becoming “the Hitler and Mussolini of the chicken world. But I felt like I owed it to the genre to be big.”

It’s good to see Liev was dedicated to his role, unlike Kevin Durand. If you land the role of The Blob you eat and eat until you become horribly obese. Wearing a fat suit is just a cop out. Shame on you Kevin Durand! Shame on youuu!

Read similar posts to Liev Schreiber originally set to wear muscle suit for Wolverine at Filmonic

Kevin Durand recently spoke to The Source about his role as The Blob in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

“I wasn’t a comic book kid because I was busy playing hockey here in Thunder Bay. That’s all I wanted to do and all I dreamed of really. But when I saw the first (X-Men film), I was just in awe and the second one (X2:X-Men United) just blew me away,” he said.

When he heard the news a new installment was in the works, he was hoping the producers would consider him for a part and luckily for Durand, they already knew his name and called for him to take a look at the part.

And to get the larger than life Blob ready for the cameras, it took six months of costume and special effects preparation.

“I have a feeling people are going to like him,” Durand said.

I think people will like him because The Blob is big, fat and stupid. I pray we get some of this goodness in the movie.

Read similar posts to Kevin Durand Talks The Blob at Filmonic