The amount of love for the Transformers series makes me think people really, really, really love robots smashing each other.
But will audiences flock to it when the robots are just robots, and not mythological car-beings? And the fighting is contained in a ring? Surely, there’s a Transformers / Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots crossover somewhere in fandom. Or at least a lot of love for Richard Matheson’s stories in all their Hollywoodized forms.
Glib comparisons and jokes aside, the trailer for Real Steel doesn’t look half bad. The concept is still silly — robot boxing — but it’s a little grungier and darker than I would have expected from Shawn Levy. It’s not slapstick at all. Jackman sells the washed up boxer well, too. I would rather see a movie where he’s actually an embittered boxer and not one managing robots, but I’ll take what I can get. If he spends the movie strutting, scowling, and throwing punches in a Bluetooth, I’ll feel relatively satisfied. Kind of like how you all felt looking at Megan Fox between bits of smashed steel.
The trailer is embedded below. Hopefully, it won’t get pulled, as I understand it was supposed to premiere on ESPN tonight.