I've always felt that one of the principle reasons why video games don't make good movies is because film downgrades the medium from active to passive. No matter how good a game is, you don't want to spend two hours on the couch watching your friend play; you want to take the controller and give it a whirl yourself. Now we're literally getting to the point where we are watching movies about people playing Wii Boxing. How else do you describe Real Steel?

The new international trailer for the Shawn Levy movie has arrived online. In the film, Hugh Jackman plays a former boxer who - if you'll pardon the pun - is on the ropes. Broke and without a robot boxer to promote, he's achieved true loser status. When searching around in the dump for new parts, however, he discovers a sparring robot that may be the key to not only get his life back together, but reconnect with his 11-year-0ld son.

Check out the trailer below.



I'm not entirely sure I understand the appeal of this film. While I know that Transformers gives people hard-ons for metal-on-metal action, what are the stakes involved when a fight promoter controls the robots movements and can replace them if they break down. Wouldn't the entire sport be dominated by people who can simply spend the most money? I get the horrible sense that this movie is going to have a climactic finish where, through the power of heart and hard work, the sparring bot ends up defeating a major opponent and becomes some a champion. One problem with that: robots don't have hearts.

For more on Real Steel, be sure to check out our Blend Film Database.