The Hunger Games (2012)

 I love this book! So first let me say. Read the book, just READ THE BOOK!

I went with my friends this past weekend to go see the Hunger games. My friend has been wanting to go for a while, we didn’t get a chance to go when my mum was in town so we went on Sunday, hoping to catch it before it went out of theaters.  And usually I don’t like when they turn great books into movies. You lose so much and it just is missing the depth that the novel provides. I know you can’t put everything on the big golden screen right…and some things have to go and this movie was no exception. So if you missed it in the first line. JUST READ THE BOOK!

Let me just say one thing….for them playing in the Hunger Games, they looked pretty full. I don’t think a single person playing in this movie ever went a day without food. For starving to death, they were pretty pudgy!

However, the movie was still good…and I still cried! J  And you should still see it. But please read the book first!

The zombie-apocalypse ended (ok, not really, but something apocalyptic happened) and America has now been renamed and reformed into a new nation known as Panem. The nation is divided into 13 districts The Capital, District 1, District 2 all the way down to District 12, the poorest one. Every year the Capitol requests s sacrifice, known as a Tributes from each district, one boy and one girl. Any one in district 1-12 between the ages of 12 – 18 is entered into a lottery known as the Reaping and this is how the participates for The Hunger Game are chose.  These participates travel to the capitol where they compete in a computer generated arena to the death…and only one survives, bringing back to their district fame and food!

Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is a 15 (maybe 16) year old girl who has learned to survive in District 12 by working alongside her best friend, Gale Hawthorne (played by Liam Hemsworth) and sneaking out of the district hunting and foraging to provide for her sister and mother. She has been doing this since her father died in a coal mining accident years ago.

On the day of the Reaping, Katniss and her little sister Primrose (played by Willow Shields), get up and head to the town square. Katniss reassures her sister that everything is going to be fine. Prim is terrified; being this is her first year being entered into the competition. However everything was not fine. Prim is chosen and realizing that her sister would die in the Hunger Games, Katniss runs to take her sisters place as the female tribute. The male tribute is chosen next, and he ends up being a baker’s son named Petta (played by Josh Hutcherson)that Katness remembers gave her some burnt bread when her family was starving to death. She realizes to survive…she is going to have to kill the boy that saved her.

Katniss and Peeta meet with Effie Trinket (played by Elizabeth Banks) and Haymitch (played amazingly by Woody Harrelson) and board the train to the Capital. They quickly realize that Effie is not happy to be their representative and would much rather be the spokeswoman for a better district and Haymitch, a former District 12 Hunger Games winner and their mentor is just a drunk who has already decided they are both going to die in the Games.

**Side Note – I love Woody Harrelson! I didn’t know he was actually in this movie until he walked onto the screen! He really did a great job in this movie, like he does in ALL his movies J **

Realizing that their chances are slim, Katniss and Peeta dive into the rich food and eat themselves near exploding, they have never had, seen or even dreamed about such food and luxuries as they are now being treated to on the train that takes them to their death.  When Katniss and Peeta realize that Haymitch has already figured them as good as dead, they go after him and convince him that they want to fight and that he needs to help them. Drunkenly he tells them that the only way to survive is to get people to like them, if people like them they will sponsor them and if they sponsor them then Katniss and Petta will have the tools needed to survive the games.

Katniss grimaces…she is not a people person! But as they arrive in the Capital it becomes very apparent that Peeta is a people person as he waves to them from the window.

The next day Katniss meets her stylist Cinna, Cinna becomes a shoulder to help support Katniss during the competition. Cinna dresses Katniss and Peeta in the most amazing outfit for the Gala Parade, 2 black costumes on fire to symbolize the coal mining district of 12. Realizing that the crowd loves them, Peeta grabs Katniss’ hand and raises their interlocked hands to the crowd….and the audience eat it up…their competitors…despise it!

For the next few days the Katniss and Peeta train with the other tributes in a large gym. They learn basic survival and defense skills.  While honing their skills, they get the chance to learn a bit about the other tributes and mostly the Careers (from District 1, 2 & 4 ) who train for the Games until they are 18 and then volunteer. Cato, from District 1, shows himself to be the biggest threat and the predicted winner of the games.

** Side note – I am not sure why District 3 doesn’t have careers, but whatever!**

Haymitch finds out that both Katniss and Peeta have special skills, Katniss is very skilled with a bow and arrow thanks to her years of hunting in the woods with her father and them with Gale, and Peeta is extremely strong. Haymitch tells them not to give away their biggest skills until they are in front of the Game Makers.  

After days of training it is time for each tribute to show the Game Makers what they have to offer. One by one each tribute goes into a room until it is Katniss’ turn. She walks in and realizes that the Game Makers are all drunk and more focused on the luxurious food in front of them then seeing her ‘talent’.  Her first shot misses, disgusted and angry with them for ignoring her, for the games for everything she shots an arrow straight through an apple in the mouth of a roasted pig. The Game Makers leap back and stare at her in amazement as she sarcastically thanks them and leaves.  Effie is shocked and furious by Katniss behavior, but Haymitch, Peeta and Cinna love it! When the scores of the Tributes are shown that night on TV (score 1 – 12, 12 being the highest) Katniss scored the highest…11, Peeta only scored a 9.

At the Capital the plot thickens, the President, President Show warns the Game Makers that the Games are about reminding the Districts of the past, not giving them hope and that he better be careful

Now it is time for the audience to meet the Tributes, and one by one each tribute is introduced and interviewed by TV host and star Caesar.  Katniss, not being a big people person stumbles through the interview. She tells Caesar that she is here in place of her 12 year old sister and tries to get off the stage as quickly as possible. Peeta on the other hand loves the camera and within minutes has the audience laughing until he admits that he has a deep crush on Katniss and has had it for years. Katniss, furious attacks Peeta backstage, Haymitch separates them and tells them that he can sell them as star-crossed lovers. Katniss reluctantly agrees…since it might bring her sponsors and save her life.

Then the games begin! All the Tributes are injected with GPS tracking devices and set down in cornucopia inside the game. All around them are weapons, backpacks and survival gear…a bow and arrow. The horn sounds and the Tributes are off.  It is a blood bath as the Career tributes attack anyone going for the supplies. Katniss grabs a pack and does what Haymitch told her, run…for water. She barely escapes an attack by Clove (District 1) but she survives. She heads into the woods

Katniss finds water and as she fills up her canteen she surveys her equipment….a rope, coat and some food. Loud bangs can be heard in the distance indicating the death of tributes…13 in all died at the cornucopia and the  Games have just begun! An alliance is quickly formed between the Careers and Katniss is shocked when she sees Peeta with them. Hurt and betrayed Katniss decided that Peeta is on his own and she will kill him now! The Careers have one main goal…take out the biggest threat…Katniss.

Katniss decided her best chance of survival is to get as far away from the Careers as possible, and the next day she heads out. She walks away from them and suddenly the Game Makers realize that she is by the end of the computer programed arena and miles away from any other tribute. In an attempt to get her back in the game they start a forest fire and send fire balls after her, sending her running back towards the Careers. Katniss barley escapes and gets burned badly on her thigh. In order to stop the pain, she hobbles back to the lake and gets in…letting the cool water sooth her burn…until the Careers show up.

Running for her life, Katniss climbs up a tree, unable to reach her the Careers settle down under the tree for the night. Katniss ties herself into the tree and tries to figure out her next move. Suddenly a parachute appears sent from Haymitch….its medicine for her leg! Early the next morning Katniss awakes. The Careers are still below her but she has another visit, Rue, a 12 year old girl from District 11. Rue has been following Katniss since the beginning of the games and even in the training and she points to a large trackerjaker nest right above the Careers. Seeing her chance Katniss cuts the genetically mutated wasps down on top of the sleeping Careers. The Trackerjakers are venomous and can kill

The group settle for the night underneath the tree whilst Katniss once again ties herself to the tree. She is woken up later in the night by a parachute sent by Haymitch containing much needed medicine for Katniss' wounded leg. She applies it and her burn appears to clear up as if nothing had happened. Her attention is then caught by Rue, a 12 year old tribute from District 11 in a nearby tree. She is friendlier than anyone else Katniss has come across. The wasps form a cloud and sting the group forcing them to run to the water.  One Career dies, Glimmer.  Katniss manages to get out of the tree, but not without getting stung herself. As she begins to hallucinate she pulls the bow and arrow from Glimmer. Peeta comes running back to the camp site, sees Katniss and screams at her to run! Confused and drugged Katniss stumbles into the woods.

Katniss falls to the ground. After nights of hallucinations, Katniss awakens beneath a tree trunk with leaves covering the stings. Rue appears; two girls decide to team up and go on the offensive.  Rue tells Katniss that the Careers have all their food and supplies in the meadow and that is their main camp sight. Katniss forms a plan to destroy the Careers supplies. She tells Rue to set small fires to distract them while she goes and destroys their food. To keep in contact with each other they will use the call of the Mocking Jay, a bird that will mock your melody if it likes your voice and sing it back to you.

The Careers see the smoke in the distance and leave their camp. Only one tribute remains. As Katniss looks for a way to destroy the food a girl she has named Foxface appears runs towards the supplies, avoids the traps (mines), gets what she needs and runs away without being noticed.

Katniss realizes that she won’t be able to avoid the bombs, instead she shoots a bag of apples that fall to the ground and explode all the mines destroying the food. Cato, returning to the camp is so furious with the boy left on guard that he breaks his neck. Katniss realizes it is time to go. She heads back to find Rue, only to find her just in time to see a spear go through her. Katniss without even thinking sends an arrow flying into Rues assailants’ chest killing him on the spot. Rue dies in Katniss arms.

Back in District 11 (Rue's home), her father (we believe) is shown distraught and angered by his daughter's death and begins a riot against the Hunger Games. The Peace Keepers of District 11 arrive and kill Rue’s father dead.  President Snow is enraged at the rebellion in District 11 and wants to kill Katniss. Haymitch, realizing how close Katniss is to being murdered, pleads with the Game Keepers to keep her alive. The Game Keepers make an announcement in the arena, the rules of the Games have changed; there can be two winners of the Games as long as they belong to the same district.

Katniss realizing that if Peeta is still alive they have a chance to actually win the games sets out to find him. She finds Peeta  camouflaged by the river bleeding to death. Katniss helps him to a cave where neither of them will be found.  She tries to treat Peeta's wound she will need real medicine, medicine to expensive for a sponsor to purchase.  Suddenly a new announcement is made, at the cornucopia will be something for each tribute that they desperately need.  Katniss knows it is the medicine to save Peeta. Peeta begs her not to go, knowing it will be a blood bath again, but she kisses him and as soon as he falls to sleep she heads out.

Katniss makes a run for her bag, but Clover appears out of nowhere and jumps her. Fighting for her life the two girls roll around. Clove teases Katniss about teaming up with Rue. Suddenly Thresh (the boy from 11) lifts Clover off Katniss. He beats Clover to death and lets Katniss go…’just this one time, for helping Rue’.  Katniss gets back to the cave and gives Peeta the medicine.

Now that Peeta is able to walk, they decided it is time to get food. Katniss goes hunting and Peeta splits off to forage for berries. A canon booms in the distance and Katniss freaks thinking Peeta is dead, but it’s not. Peeta has gathered poisons berries without knowing it and Foxface stole them and ate them.

Peeta and Katniss head off to find Cato, who has just killed Thrash by the cornucopia! In the distance they hear a cry in the distance and suddenly giant mutated dog like creatures leap out at them. Katniss and Peeta run through the woods towards cornucopia. They leap to the top of it as the dogs circle around them below barking and howling. Cato suddenly appears on top of the cornucopia and attacks Katniss in fury. He tries to toss her to the dogs, but Peeta jumps to save her. As Peeta and Cato struggle, Katniss watches in horror. She prepares the arrow and aims it at Cato. Cato starts to laugh psychotically and starts to say that he knows the truth about the Games. Katniss shots Cato and rushes to grab Peeta before he falls to the dogs. Katniss and Peeta watch as Cato is torn apart.

The cannon goes off and the Game Makers make another announcement….the two victors rule has been revoked.

Realizing that one of them must die, Peeta begs Katniss to kill him so she can live. But Katniss has another idea in mind. She gives Peeta some of the poison berries and they both prepare to commit suicide. Either they both are walking out or neither. The Game Makers revoke their last announcement and announce them both victors!

Haytmitch is furious with them. He knows how upset the President is and he tells them if they want to survive they MUST continue to play lovers, but he still doesn’t think that will save them.

Peeta and Katniss give their final interview and travel back to District 12. Gale is there to meet her with Prim and Katniss’ mum. The Game Maker is forced to kill himself and President Show watches the victors wondering…

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

I don’t know how many of you have read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or even seen the other versions of this movie. My mum got me the book a while ago and I could say like I do in every blog I write where the adaptation of the book is different than the movie, that the book is better. …and I could rant about how frustrating it is that they miss so many things and jump around. Just because I am not doing that for this book – to – movie adaptation, do not think I don’t want to go off on my normal rant. I do…but sometimes…like today I feel like I am preaching to an empty church. So all I am going to say is…if you haven’t read the book. Read it. It is better than the movie.

Anywho. My friend Lenny recently purchased a Kindel. I know…a little behind the times, but the man is in his 60’s and retired so the Kindel was a surprising. But one of the first books that he downloaded was the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and he loved it, so when we started seeing the previews, we knew we had to go see it. So the two of us set off for a Saturday matinee (let’s face it, movies are getting to darn expensive these days!)

The movie starts with Henrik Vanger (played by Christopher Plummer), retired CEO of Vanger Industries opening a gift on his birthday.   He has received yet another pressed flower from an anonymous sender. Placing this one among the rest (that we assume he has gotten over the years) he makes a phone call to the retired Inspector Gustaf Morell (played by Donald Sumpter).

We move from a small town to a metropolitan city. Millennium magazine co-owner Mikael Blomkvist (played very well by Daniel Craig) is being harassed by reporters and paparazzi as he lives the courthouse after losing a big libel law suit against the corrupt businessman Hans-Erik Wenneerstrom (played by Ulf Friberg)

**Side Note – I had to look up how to spell these damn names! There was no way I knew them off the top of my head, and I so didn’t feel like butchering a bunch of names!**

Going up against Wenneerstrom was a stupid move on Mikael’s behalf. Wennerstrom is rich and powerful and will dragging Wenneerstrom into court…Wennerstrom dragged Mikael’s name through the mud. He destroyed Mikael’s reputation and took all of Mikael’s life savings.  Mikael knows that there is own one way to save his company and he signs over full owner ship to his co-owner and on again off again lover (even though she is married) Erika Berger (played by Robin Wright). Erika tries to talke Mikael out of it, but they both know that if he says…Millenium is done.

Henrik Vanger’s attorney Dirch Forde (played by Steven Berkoff) arrives into the city and meets with the head of Milton Security. For the results of a background check that Milton Security has run on Mikael Blomkvist. Against the CEO of Milton Securities advice, Forde has requested that the person who did the background check to come into the office personally so he can meet her. In walks Lisbeth Salander (played by Rooney Mara). Lisbeth is a young girl in her early twenties with tattoos and piercings all over her body. Forde however is not bothered by this and proceeds to question Lisbeth on how she managed to get all of this information on Mikael, but Lisbeth is cool and collective.

A few weeks pass and it is Christmas eve, Mikael is celebrating the holidays with his loved ones (including his lover and his lovers husband) when he receives a unexpected phone call from Frode, telling him that he has a job from him and asking him to come to Hedeby Island to meet with Henrik Vanger himself. At first Mikael refuse saying it is the holidays, but he quickly realizes that he doesn’t have many job opportunities knocking down his door and agrees to drive up and meet with Vanger.

The drive to the small Island town is calm, but once Mikael arrives things quickly turn. Henrik tells Mikael that he would like to hire him to investigate a 40 year old cold case, his niece, Harriet Vanger who disappeared from the island. Henrik is convinced that Harriet was murdered, he needs closure. Before she died, Harriet would always give Henrik a pressed flower for his birthday…a tradition that he is being spited by whoever murdered her by continuing to send him flowers on his birthday to this day. Henrik is convinced that someone inside the family murdered Harriett. Mikael listens to the requests and is cautious, the case is 40 years old and he knows he is not an investigator, but Henrik is offering to much money and Mikael agrees to stay in a cottage on the island under the pretense of writing a biography about Henrik and his life. In addition to the very substantial sum of money that Henrik is offering, he also offers Mikael revenge. He claims to have incriminating evidence on Wennerstrom that would take that old man down. Eager for the money and the revenge, Mikael waste no time getting started. 

Lisbeth although a genius in her own right is a ward of the state.

**Side Note - Guess that is one of the reasons they gave her all tattoos and stuff…make her seem more like a rebellious teenager or something, anger at the gov’t**

Anyway…she goes over to her guardian’s house, this old man, only to realize that he has had a massive stroke. She calls the police, but with her ward in the hospital, the state moves her guardianship to someone else. That someone else is a lawyer by the name of Nils Bjurman (played by Yorick Van Wageningen). Now Nils is one sick puppy…or should I say sick dog.  He takes control of her money, when she asks for some money to pay her bills, he forcers her to suck his penis. Afterwards he polite explains that if she doesn’t do what he asks, he will have her labeled incompetent and locked way for the rest of her life.  Discussed she leaves, furious at what she had to do and pissed as hell at him for making her do it!!!

 Lisbeth is not a simple cookie and she devises a way to get payback. A few nights later she shows up at Nils apartment. She says she has run out of money again. Nils politely invites her into the house and leads her back to the bedroom. Lisbeth puts her book-bag down on a chair and while Nils is in the bathroom, she adjusts it so that it is facing the bed. Nils walks back out and suddenly he is on top of her. He knocks her unconscious and by the time she comes too again the sick freak has her tied to the bed spread eagle. Seeing her eyes open Nils leans forward pulls her shirt up over her head and rips her pants down her. He forces himself on her and rapes her while she screams out in pain and agony. Like I said…sick freak! But Nils is unaware of what our little tattooed genius has done…recorded the entire thing from a camera in her book-bag.  After Nils is done he gives Lisbeth a check for 10k and sends her on her way.

Over this time, Mikael had made himself somewhat at home in the run down cottage on the island. Although Henrik has invited Mikael onto the island, the rest of the family is extremely standoffish and he soon realizes that it is not only a cold case he has to solve, but what is going on with this dysfunctional family. Every single family member on the island either hate, doesn’t speak to or is work against another family member.  Mothers not talking to kids, kids not talking to parents and brother and sisters not hating each other for years. None of them are responsive to Mikael’s questions, especially when he brings up Harriett and the past.

**And they say only poor people can have crazy dysfunctional homes!! HA**

Mikael starts to go through Harriets old things and he comes across a list of names and numbers.  Unable to figure out what the significance of this is, he calls the retired chief investigator who tells him that the number are phone numbers, but they ran that lead down and nothing came of it. Mikael doesn’t quite believe this, but he lets it drop…until his religious daughter comes to visit and she asks him why he has bible verse written out next to people’s names.

After his kid leaves, Mikael begins to look it up and finds that each verse from the bible describes a different method of killing someone for a specific sin.

**Isn’t religion grand…you can really see how it is all about the forgiveness there. **

Lisbeth isn’t taking the rape well, the poor outcast dysfunctional unloved girl is already messed up enough, but this has pushed her over the edge. She goes back to Nils house, but this time with a plan in mind. She knocks on his door and as soon as he opens it she steps in and tazers the living crap out of him. Like HARD CORE! He falls to the ground passed out. Lisbeth drags him down to his bedroom while he wets himself after losing control of his body functions and she ties him up at the foot of his own bed. Sitting on his chest she smacks him away. Calmly (and a little crazy like) Lisbeth explains to the pig that the other night she had just expected him to force her to give him a blow job again, and she had come prepared…she had recorded it…and instead of recording a forced blow job, she had gotten rap. Now if he ever wanted to stay out of jail, send her to jail, try to force her to do anything like that again, or try to have her labeled legally incompetent…the contents of that video would leak all over the web! Realizing that he is trapped he begins to beg, but she doesn’t listen. Instead she pulls out a tattoo gun and writes on his chest I AM A RAPIST PIG across it…and then she sticks a lamp up his ass. Justice is served.

Mikael is infatuated with the mystery. He believes he has found the trail of a serial killer who is using god to back up his crimes. However Henrik has fallen ill and Frode and Martin Vanger (played by Stellan Skarsgaard) Henriks nephew & current CEO of Vanger Industries have taken over things. Frode suggests that Mikael leaves the case and goes home, but Martin is convinced that his uncle would have wanted Mikael to keep going. Mikael requests a research assistant to help him and Frode knows just the girl for the job. He recommends Lisbeth and tells Mikael that she did a background check on Mikael before they hired him. Shocked Mikael asks to see the results, he realizes that Lisbeth hacked his computer but sees her talent and goes to offer her a job.

Lisbeth still reeling from the rape has thrown herself into drugs and sex. She doesn’t want to come up for air and has no reason to…until Mikael knocks on her door. At first she believes he has come to hurt her since she did hack into his computer, but Mikael explains that he wants her help. He would like to hire her as an assistant to find a serial killer targeting woman. Well considering she had just been raped by a freaking pig….she agrees….heck wouldn’t any woman asked at that moment in their life! Lisbeth tells him she will meet him at the cottage.

Back on the island, Mikael is spending more time trying to figure out what happened to this family to make them so dysfunctional and what happened to Harriet. While out exploring one of the last places that Harriet was seen alive a hidden gunman sends a shot roaring by Mikaels head. He realizes his life is in danger and that the murder is still here…living on the island after all these years. He hurries back to the house to find that Lisbeth has already arrived and has begun to make herself at home. She has put up surveillance cameras and hooked up to a high power wi-fi…along with doing a bunch of other IT tech stuff to make computers and hacking easier.  

Mikael welcomes Lisbeth into the home, and gives her the couch, but this doesn’t last long. Lisbeth, intrigued by this man…who doesn’t seem to want to rape her or hurt her strips down and seduces him.

But Lisbeth and Mikael don’t spend all their time in bed, they begin to dig deeper into the murder/disappearance of Harriet and the murder of the other woman from around the area. Mikael and Lisbeth come across some old photos of the last days of Harriet’s life. She is attending a parade, but unlike the on-lookers around her, she is looking as something that frightens her. Mikael tracks down a woman who had taken some picture son that day and finds out that Harriet was watching a man across the street, a man that Mikael now believes is the killer.

The time has come for them to dig even deeper into the financial and corporate history of the company. Mikael asks Martian for access and soon Lisbeth uncovers a corrupt connection between the company and murders not just on the island, but all over the world dating back to the early 1940’s. In every town there is a Vanger….a woman is murdered.  

So I am going to stop relating the story here.  As the plot unfolds you don’t see all the twists and turns, but the murderer is slowly revealed and when it hits you, you ask yourself…how did I not see that coming!  If you have or have not read the books or see the original movie, this one is still worth watching. I hate to give away the ending to those who have not seen it and for those of you who have read/watched it, you already know.

But I must say that I am not a fan of Mikael. I think he is a dog, like most men and used Lisbeth, this poor broken girl in a despicable way.

Overall, I am glad I went to see this movie, but it was really strange sitting in a mid-day matinee surrounded by a bunch of blue hairs while a young woman is raped on the big screen. Made me just a little uncomfortable.

Real Steel (2011)

Last week I went to go see Real Steel with my friend. It had been a few weeks since my last movie adventure, so I was looking forward to being transported for a few hours into another realm. Although Real Steel was not my first choice, to be honest the previews left little desire, I was not disappointed in the end. I was actually quite surprised with this movie and truly did enjoy it. I even recommend it to a few or my co-workers who have kids.

The movie starts with Charlie (played surprising well by Hugh Jackman) driving out to BFE where he has scheduled a fight between his old robot, named Ambush, and a 800 lb bull (who actually ends up being around a 2k lb bull). We learn very quickly on that Charlie is deep financial trouble and owes at least 2 loan sharks around 30k each, this is why Charlie has agreed to this unorthodox fight between his robot and a bull. When Charlie arrives at the fight, he is outraged when he sees the 2k bull and tries to complain to manager/owner of the bull fighting ring and ex-rival Ricky (played by Kevin Durand) but Ricky tells him if he wants to get paid his robot has to fight. Realizing that he has no other option, Charlie agrees to the match. Seeing a chance to make more money from the fight, Charlie bets Ricky 10k winner takes all. Ricky laughs and agrees with a sweet reminder that if he doesn’t get his winnings he will beat Charlie within an inch of his life.

The fight begins and Ambush (Charlie) hauls off and clocks the bull, making you think that the match will be over quickly.

**Side Note – after watching him hit the poor bull, I no longer felt sorry for Charlie and the crap he was in, seriously, who hits a bull and thinks its ok. It a freaking animal! Hit a person, fine, they know what they are getting into the ring for, but a bull. Sick and as I said already, unorthodox.**

Charlie, thinking he is the shiznet, starts to flirt with some cute girls in the stand (idiot men) and the bull, pissed off after being hit by a freaking robot turns and charges the robot from behind, taking one of Ambushes legs. Charlie, now realizing that he is about to lose the fight, his robot and the money that he desperately needs in order to keep his legs tries in vain to lead Ambush to a victory on one leg, but he quickly sees his hobs dash as the bull sticks Ambush cutting the robot into two.  

Knowing he doesn’t have the money to pay Ricky, Charlie hurries to leave. Dragging the mangled remains of Ambush back to his huge-ass truck, Charlie runs into two well-dressed men who inform him that his ex-girlfriend/wife (not really sure which) has died in a car accident and his son Max (played by Dakota Goyo) according to Texas law must be turned over to his father. However, Max’s aunt (played by Hope Davis) has offered to take full custody of Max if Charlie just signs the kid over.

Having no need or desire for a little kid dragging him down, Charlie goes to sign the paperwork. While in the courtroom, he realizes that Max’s aunt is married to a VERY rich man, and Charlie makes a deal with the rich old hubby (played by James Rebhorn) to agree to sign Max over for $100,000. The rich hubby agrees on one condition…Charlie keeps Max for the summer, Charlie agrees and hubby gives Charlie 50K up front and agrees to give him the rest after the summer. Charlie, ignoring the fact that he owes multiple people large sums of money, immediately spends the first 50K buying an old champion known as Nosiy Boy and has it delivered to the gym that his ex-girlfriend/girlfriend Baliey (played by Evangeline Lilly) took over after her father (and Charlie’s old boxing coach). We soon realize that Max also has a thing for the fighting robots, and the story involves, as we all know the father will fall for his son.

Thinking he will get his money back right away, Charlie doesn’t takes Max’s or Balieys advice and work with the robot to learn his combos and fighting technique. Instead, Charlie immediately take Max (through Max bribing him to let him come along) and Nosiy Boy to flight. Thanks to Nosiy Boy’s reputation and Charlie’s relationship with the ring owner, Finn, Charlie manages to get the top fight against Midas (one bad as bot) and Charlie manages to lose everything. The flight to the death destroys Nosiy Boy in less than 24 hours.

In an attempt to recoup some of his losses, Charlie takes Max to a bot junkyard, it is a sad sight. Old robots tossed aside after being uses up, abused and discarded. While Charlie tries to score enough parts to fix up some old robot…just so he can get enough money to get a new bot, Max falls off the edge of a cliff and plummets down into the dark…robot part filled cavern below. (Good job dead beat dad for keeping an eye on your kid). Luckily for Max (and because that would have been a horrible ending to a Disney movie) his jacket is caught on the arm of a buried robot. Thrilled with his discovery, Max begs Charlie to help him recover the bot, but Charlie…selfish and a man, doesn’t see the financial gain and leaves Max to spend the night in the rain digging up the bot alone…which he does.

Max and Charlie get to the gym and surprisingly Baliey manages to get the robot rebooted and they quickly realize that although not a actually fighting bot, this generation one sparring bot has a rare(advanced for the bots time) Shadow Function. The Sparring bot was designed to help fighting bots train, it can take an insane amount of beating and can mimic (shadow) moves from the other bots to help it train, but it can’t fight itself. But this doesn’t deter Max, who is convinced that the Sparring bot…named Atom, can fight. Max is infatuated with his new bot and quickly adopts it as a friend (makes you wonder how lonely this kid must have been).

After enduring endless begging from Max, Charlie agrees to take Atom and Sam to “The Zoo” which is an underground, no-rules fighting ring for Atom’s first fight. Max, confident in Atom and ignoring Charlie completely makes a huge bet against the crazy punk rocker ring-leader for 1K, winner takes all. Unable to pass up a punk kid and a sparring bot, the ring leader takes the bet and proceeds to have his robot beat down. Max, thrilled with himself takes the money…while talking smack…and they leave. While heading out, a man comes to them and asks them if Atom would like to do another fight. We see a light at the end of the tunnel for Charlie and his financial crisis.

The next morning Max and Atom are still up for the night before.

**Side Note – Charlie has introduced Max to energy drinks and crap food and the kid is so wired on caffeine that sleep is only something Max can day dream about at this point**

Max has been trying to teach Atom how to box. But after hours of training, Max has a little fun with Atom’s shadow function and the two of them break it down (in a VERY white boy way) to Eminem (I think, I am not sure…but it was something good).

**Side Note – yes I know another one so soon, but the album to this movie is WICKED good! The music seriously was kick ass!**

Charlie at this point walks out and see the two of them dancing (white boy dancing). Charlie agrees to teach Atom to fight if Max agrees to “dance” with Atom before the fights. Max agrees.  But Max didn’t spend all night dancing, he has also taken the speech functions out of Nosiy Boy and installed them into Atom. (Seriously, this kid is a freaking electronic genius or something, because that is some pretty spiffy stuff). And so Atom begins to rise as a star, Dancing with Max before every fight and training with Charlie every day. Slowly, Charlie starts to save up money to pay off his debt  (he sends Baily passed rent with interest) and Max works to make Atom better and better. 

Max and Charlie get there first shot at the big WRB (the Robot Boxing league) when Atom is invited to fight against Twin City (an Asian Robot with two heads…one for each of the creepy twin Asian controllers). Thrilled to get into the big leagues Charlie and Max take the fight, but it is not as easy as the underground matches and Atom is beat into a corner. Charlie suddenly sees Twin City’s weakness and beats the two headed bot down!!!  Seeing his change, Max grabs the mic and challenges the #1 Bot in the World Zeus to a duel. This does not please Zeus owners.

Now Zeus is one bad as bot. There is a reason he is number one. He was designed, paid for and built to be the best fighter. He was built by Tak Mashido a retired bot designer who not only built the champion Noisy Boy, but was commissioned for one final project…Zeus. Zeus has never lost a fight; in fact no bot has ever passed the second round with Zeus. His programming (specially developed by Tak Mashido) allows him to analyze and predict bot fighting patterns makes him unstoppable. So being challenged by a little kid and a sparring bot is pretty embarrassing, and also pretty stupid on the kids side.

Upon leaving their fight with Twin City, Charlie run’s into his old buddy from the County Fair, Ricky, who beats the crap out of Charlie (as he promised he would) and steals Max’s money. Realizing the danger that he has put Max in, Charlie quickly takes Max back to his Aunt. Old hubby, pleased that Charlie kept his part of the deal, try to give him the other 50K, which Charlie refuses.

**Side Note – at this point in time, Charlie really should have just taken the money. He really needed to pay some people off, before he was just beat to an inch of his life, but beaten to death, but something about pride and what not….stupid shit, pride ain’t gonna do you a damn thing when you’re dead**

Max is pissed to be back at home, and begs Charlie to let him stay with him, but Charlie refuses…seeing the error of his ways and so on J

Some time passes and all of a sudden a message comes down from Mount Olympus, Zeus has agreed to the fight. Unbelieving, Charlie rushes to Max. He apologizes (in a very bad way) to Max’s aunt and asks if Max can come for one night as Atom v/s Zeus. She reluctantly agrees.  

Max and Charlie are so ready, but before the fight, the get an invitation to Mount Olympus. Zeus hot ass owner tries to buy Atom from Max and Charlie for 200K (or some huge number), Charlie ready to leap at this chance, Max refuse, truly believing that Atom has a chance against the god of gods.

The bell rings, and no one expect Atom to even survive the first round with Zeus and bets are flying. We see Ricky go and make a bet 5 to 1 against with Charlie’s old buddy, Finn. But instead of making the bet and leaving, Ricky proceeds to be a racist dick to Finn.  

**Side Note – I just wanted to reach into the screen and strangle Ricky…such a prat?**

Atom is almost KO’d by Zeus as soon as the bell rings. But Atom struggles up and continues to fight again and again being knocked down by the god, but surprising everyone Atom makes it past the first and second and third round. By the fourth round everyone is surprised that this little sparring bot is holding his own against Zeus. Both bots are taking some amazing hits. The crowed is seriously going wild, you see both Max’s aunt and uncle and Baily in the crowd. Suddenly Atoms voice recognition software gets destroyed by one enormous blow from Zeus. Just then the bell rings….end of the fourth round.  Realizing that they can no longer tell Atom what to do, the only way to continue and complete the fight is for Atom to shadow box with Charlie. Max changes out the programing quickly and the last round begins. Charlie begins to fight, and the shadow boxing is allowing Atom to move faster than before and new non-standard bot moves that Charlie has taught Atom through their time together. Atom backed into a corner takes a heavy heavy beating from Zeus. Max screams at Charlie to do something, but Charlie has seen Zeus weak spot and is waiting for his moment. Meanwhile, all is not calm on Mount Olympus, Zeus is overloading, and about to crash. Tak is freaking out, seeing his bot about to crash in the middle of the most wildly watched bot fight in the world. He runs down and takes control of the robot himself…and this is not missed by the reporters. Who zoom the cameras in on Tak pushing the controllers out of the way and taking the seat himself. But Charlie is in the rhythm fighting Zeus alongside Atom. The crowd is going wild. Charlie starts to back Zeus into a corner, about to deliver the final blow to the god when the bell rings. Ending the final round. The crowd has already decided who has won the match, but as the judges votes are announced, it is clear that Zeus won (by a hair)…(I think Mount Olympus may have paid off the judges) but no one cares about the Judges choice, the reporters flood pass Tak and Zeus to Atom, Max and Charlie. The people have spoken, Atom gets the title of “The People’s Champion” and that is good enough for Max.

 

Can I just say, I was extremely hesitant to go to this movie originally, but the story, the graphics, the music, it ended up being a great movie. Regardless of if you have kids or not, this movie is worth seeing. I seriously clapped in the theater (admittedly I may have been the only one, but I clapped…everyone else was just lame). This movie moved me and I really truly enjoyed it. If you haven’t seen it, it is worth seeing go watch it, rent it, whatever, but definitely check it out.