Today, we have got the first images from Dreamworks upcoming fall sci-fi drama, Real Steel for you. From the looks of things, everyone’s favorite X-man, Hugh Jackman is playing Mickey to a giant battling bot’s Rocky. The pics showcase some of the sets and the look of the robots that will appear in the film.
The plot? It really is an underdog story with a basic character arc that we have seen before (and the kind that John G. Avidsen was more than happy to give us back in the 70’s/80’s); the retired athlete who gets his chance to reconnect with his family and his former life when he bets his cards on a darkhorse up-and-comer.
The big switch here is that the ex-boxer’s meal ticket is a giant battling robot, a discarded model that Jackman’s Charlie will rebuild and train with his estranged son (Dakota Goyo) in a future world where mechanical fighters have replaced human one’s in the boxing ring.
Eerily reminiscent of an old Twilight Zone episode with Lee Marvin (incidentally titled ‘Steel’) and more than a little evocative of the old table-top game, Rock’em, Sock’em, Robots’, Real Steel has ‘Date Night’ director Shawn Levy in the driver’s seat, and joining Jackman is a cast that will include Evangeline Lily, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis, Anthony Mackie and James Rebhorn.
Will it work? Hard to say. The pics give us a little of the flavor of the film, including Jackman giving instructions to his bot, ‘Noisy Boy’, who is apparently about to go up against ‘backroom brawler’ Midas. Not sure where this falls within the film’s structure, but I imagine it’s one of those early fights that establishes the underdog nature of this team-up. The second pic shows Levy and Jackman discussing a scene on the same set, which is ‘Crash Palace’, an underground robot fight club that is probably the equivalent of seedy street fights in more human-themed fighting films.
Jackman has an erratic history when it comes to sci-fi/fantasy films. He’s done some really interesting and odd pictures like The Prestige and The Fountain, and then he’s also cashed paychecks with the likes of Van Helsing and the last two X-Men movies. Which will Real Steel be?
Sci-fans eager to find out will just have to wait until November 18th, 2010 when Real Steel releases nation wide. Stay tuned to Atomic Popcorn for the first trailer of the film later this year.
