There's too much schmaltz and not enough smashes in this cyborg slugfest
Sentimental sci-fi really is a very worrying genre. And like a horrendous combination of Joe Bugner and Wall-e, the star of this film is a great big boxing robot, a tin man with a lot of heart. He's called Atom, and as Harry Carpenter might have put it: what a gutsy, unassuming automaton Atom is. He's been discovered in a junkyard by Charlie Kenton, played by Hugh Jackman, a washed-up robot trainer and ex-fighter who in this bland futureworld coaches souped-up 'bots to bash the jeepers out of each other. You can tell he's supposed to be washed up, incidentally, because in the first scene he drinks half-finished bottles of warm beer on tumbling out of bed – and after that, of course, never touches another drop.
A quirk of fate means he has to look after his adorable...
Sentimental sci-fi really is a very worrying genre. And like a horrendous combination of Joe Bugner and Wall-e, the star of this film is a great big boxing robot, a tin man with a lot of heart. He's called Atom, and as Harry Carpenter might have put it: what a gutsy, unassuming automaton Atom is. He's been discovered in a junkyard by Charlie Kenton, played by Hugh Jackman, a washed-up robot trainer and ex-fighter who in this bland futureworld coaches souped-up 'bots to bash the jeepers out of each other. You can tell he's supposed to be washed up, incidentally, because in the first scene he drinks half-finished bottles of warm beer on tumbling out of bed – and after that, of course, never touches another drop.
A quirk of fate means he has to look after his adorable...
- 10/13/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Fighter picked up some Oscars but the main event is in trouble, plus Mike Tyson's latest rehabilitation
Hollywood has always loved boxing - but not enough this time for The Fighter to beat The King's Speech at the Oscars. Still, it picked up a couple of gongs, including one for Welsh actor Christian Bale, who beat Geoffrey Rush for best supporting actor in his role as Mickey Ward's wayward half-brother, Dicky Eklund. "Mate, you're the best," Bale shouted out to Eklund in the audience. "He's had a wonderful story and I can't want to see the next chapter … If you want to be a champion, if you want to train with him, go and meet with him. Go and check him out. He deserves it."
Eklund was not bowled over in a rush of luvvies. There will not be another chapter. He has had his Hollywood moment and will be forgotten soon enough,...
Hollywood has always loved boxing - but not enough this time for The Fighter to beat The King's Speech at the Oscars. Still, it picked up a couple of gongs, including one for Welsh actor Christian Bale, who beat Geoffrey Rush for best supporting actor in his role as Mickey Ward's wayward half-brother, Dicky Eklund. "Mate, you're the best," Bale shouted out to Eklund in the audience. "He's had a wonderful story and I can't want to see the next chapter … If you want to be a champion, if you want to train with him, go and meet with him. Go and check him out. He deserves it."
Eklund was not bowled over in a rush of luvvies. There will not be another chapter. He has had his Hollywood moment and will be forgotten soon enough,...
- 3/1/2011
- by Kevin Mitchell
- The Guardian - Film News
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