Tag: Anthony Mackie

Real Steel (2011, Shawn Levy)

While the most impressive thing about Real Steel is easily the CG robot boxers, one has to wonder why Shawn Levy didn’t also use computer graphics to make James Rebhorn look more lifelike. Rebhorn, who I was initially happy to see in the opening titles, appears to be wearing a pound of makeup.

Steel has a solid supporting cast—besides Rebhorn, Hope Davis shows up for a small, thankless role and is good. In a tiny (though fourth billed) part, Anthony Mackie is good. Kevin Durand is great as a vile bully.

And there’s a good movie somewhere in Real Steel. A has-been boxer takes up promoting robot ones, finds out he’s got a kid, he and the kid bond, human concern is abound. And occasionally Levy—ably assisted by cinematographer Mauro Fiore—creates a good scene. But they’re far and few and they never feature Hugh Jackman (as the has-been boxer) and Dakota Goyo (as the kid). In those good moments, usually well-composed shots of Jackman by himself, it’s like a terrible future version of a good Paul Newman seventies movie.

Jackman’s okay. The film’s dialogue is horrendous, so there’s not much he could do. Goyo’s weak, but not terrible. Evangeline Lilly is useless as Jackman’s love interest.

Danny Elfman’s score is bad. He proves incapable of aping the Rocky music, which seems pretty simple.

Levy’s composition is fine, he’s just insipid.

Real Steel is real stupid; it wouldn’t have taken much to make it smart.

0/4ⓏⒺⓇⓄ

CREDITS

Directed by Shawn Levy; screenplay by John Gatins, based on a story by Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven and a short story by Richard Matheson; director of photography, Mauro Fiore; edited by Dean Zimmerman; music by Danny Elfman; production designer, Tom Meyer; produced by Don Murphy, Susan Montford and Levy; released by Touchstone Pictures.

Starring Hugh Jackman (Charlie Kenton), Dakota Goyo (Max Kenton), Evangeline Lilly (Bailey Tallet), Anthony Mackie (Finn), Kevin Durand (Ricky), Hope Davis (Aunt Debra), James Rebhorn (Uncle Marvin), Karl Yune (Tak Mashido), Olga Fonda (Farra Lemkova) and John Gatins (Kingpin).

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The Hurt Locker (2008, Kathryn Bigelow)

When The Hurt Locker gets predictable, it gets into trouble. Of the super predictable events, there was only one thing I didn’t get right. The Hurt Locker, which uses its recognizable faces in bit parts better than any film in a while (I don’t know the last time Ralph Fiennes was so good–he ought to do a spin-off), eventually falls victim to its traditional, melodramatic narrative.

It’s too bad, because as it plays out in vignettes, The Hurt Locker is incredibly impressive. Maybe it hiccups too when Brian Geraghty’s character, who’s something of discreet protagonist (he gets his own scenes while Anthony Mackie does not), exits. While Jeremy Renner turns in a fantastic performance in the lead, it’s a flashy, movie star performance.

The film succeeds because of Renner, Mackie and Geraghty and their relationship with one another. Except when it draws attention to those relationships developing, then it runs into a lot of problems–Bigelow and writer Mark Boal don’t set up the film to allow for big melodramatic expositional reveals so when the film concludes on them… well, it feels icky.

There might not be a good way to end the film though, since it is such a haphazard collection of events–much of the film revolves around the bomb squad unit’s missions and once it doesn’t, well, it’s a signal flare of the end of the second act and the beginning of the third and it’s all downhill from there.

It’s still an impressive work.

3/4★★★

CREDITS

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow; written by Mark Boal; director of photography, Barry Ackroyd; edited by Bob Murawski and Chris Innis; music by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders; production designer, Karl Juliusson; produced by Bigelow, Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro; released by Summit Entertainment.

Starring Jeremy Renner (Staff Sgt. William James), Anthony Mackie (Sgt. J.T. Sanborn), Brian Geraghty (Specialist Owen Eldridge), Ralph Fiennes (Contractor Team Leader), David Morse (Colonel Reed) and Guy Pearce (Sgt. Matt Thompson).

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