Real Steel, simply put, is tons of fun. There’s decidedly more substance here than in the brainless rock ’em sock ’em excitement of this year’s Transformers 3. The distinction here is that Real Steel has the benefit of having significant human drama to compliment the grandeur and action on screen and that makes this story work. Moreover, it is funny, endearing, inspirational and better crafted than you might expect. That said, as this is the story of an unlikely hero it’s perfectly appropriate that Shawn Levy, a bit of an underdog himself, can bring us something fun and exciting to cheer for with lots of heart…and with robots no less.
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G-S-T Review…Transformers: Dark of the Moon
2011 finds more and more movies following the trend that places some of the plot in the 60s and why not? It adds a level of depth and intrigue to the story right? In the case of X-Men First Class, yes. In Cars 2, not so much. Here, it’s an inspired move but the idea of using the Space Race and Moon landing as a way of covering up the arrival of the Autobots didn’t quite come around as impacting as it led on in those trailers. But it does make for a lead in to one helluva great action piece delivering the “Bayhem” and overly over-the-top style you’d expect…
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Off the Shelf…’Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’
Cinema in 2011 has been so far so good as we’ve seen the most anticipated films knocking film fans right out of their socks (Green Lantern not withstanding). On Wednesday Michael Bay will unveil his final installment to the epic Transformers franchise. As I like to do my homework before a sequel hits theaters, this weekend I rewatched the first two Transformers films. Without fail, 2007’s Transformers delights with the added bonus of looking simply stunning on Blu Ray. It’s so good I really don’t need to waste any time gushing over it. But like any film that was “the first one” maybe it unfairly get put on too high…