BEFORE: That's it for the superhero films, I've got one more sci-fi type film, and then it's on to another subject - well, actually this is sort of a boxing film too, so I'm using it to bridge the two topics, sci-fi and boxing. Then I'll get to the rest of the Sports wrap-up, then we'll take a look at the 5-day forecast and your local weather. Oh, and Hugh Jackman carries over from "The Wolverine", I think you'll agree that was a bit of divine providence.
THE PLOT: Set in the near future, where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling promoter feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top, he discovers he has an 11-year-old son who wants to know his father.
AFTER: This is really two stories, it's the father/son relationship, and the look at the future-sport of robot boxing. (though they never say exactly what year this takes place, it's some time after robot boxing became a thing, then fell out of favor for a bit, then underwent a revival. Sort of like soccer in the U.S.) Really, this could have been about any sport, or it could have been a screenplay about a regular human boxing contender, and someone felt the need to add robots - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. You could get two great tastes that taste great together, like peanut butter and chocolate, or you could get something worse, like Oreos dipped in salsa.
It's perhaps a heavy buy-in - you have to believe that the robots are so sophisticated that they can box in several different modes, like voice-command mode, shadow-boxing mode, and dance-remix mode. Yet the robots are apparently so simple that a man and boy with limited technical ability can find one in a scrapyard, repair it and re-wire it so that it can hold its own against newer, better models. Not quite a NITPICK POINT, but it's a little hard to reconcile those two things.
You can probably guess the formula for the movie if you've seen just about any boxing movie, particularly "Rocky V" or perhaps "The Champ". Take a washed-up older boxer (robot), get him back in fighting shape, and through keen management, and a bit of luck in a key fight, he gets a shot at the title, or something close to it. In that sense this film is very by-the-numbers. But since it's got robots, everything old is (almost) new again.
ASIDE: Whatever happened to "Battlebots", anyway? That was a great show on Comedy Central about a decade ago, and it looked like that might represent the future of sports/entertainment. I think this film helped revive the genre, since there was a new show "Robot Combat League" that was on earlier this year, but I didn't watch it. The whole genre kind of went the way of the segway, it just sort of petered out.
The emotional storyline here is somewhat predictable, too. If you predicted that the father and son who don't really know each other very well will be forced to work together towards a common goal, and develop an understanding that will lay the groundwork for a deep, lasting, loving relationship, then you get a gold star. Or you've, like, probably seen a movie before.
Also starring Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly (last seen in "The Hurt Locker"), Hope Davis (last seen in "Charlie Bartlett"), James Rebhorn, Anthony Mackie (last seen in "The Adjustment Bureau"), Kevin Durand (last seen in "I Am Number Four").
RATING: 6 out of 10 uppercuts
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