Taking on your next Jason Statham movie is a lot like flashing back to the 1980s and early 1990s to watch the next Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. Both almost-A list but really B list actors mastered the tough guy genre of their eras, and both have movies that can always be looked back on again and re-watched by fans. Along with those better-quality flicks are those movies that lag behind the others by way of storytelling, energy, and action. Unfortunately Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man falls in the latter camp–with cardboard characters and a preposterous script even for a “movie for guys who like movies” flick. It’s not among the best Statham movies nor a great Ritchie movie.
Not to be confused with Steel starring Shaquille O’Neil or Real Steel starring Hugh Jackman, Max Steel is a new “coming of age, family, superhero” movie due in theaters next month. In a world of big budget superhero movies based on 75-year-old characters like Superman and Batman, how can a relatively unknown superhero compete?
With a new trailer that plays a bit like *batteries not included or Explorers, there may yet be room for a Max Steel. Is there a young audience being missed by the violence and language of movies like Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Deadpool? Maybe a film for kids with a plot less complicated than Captain America: Civil War? Or a movie for audiences looking for the next Sky High?
Max Steel is the combination of angsty teenager Max (not Mark) McGrath and Steel–a smart-alecky alien tech robot drone. Does “organic armor” make Max Steel a new cyborg? A plus for the character is its source in Mattel’s large-sized action figure line based on the format and marketing of the original, classic 12-inch G.I. Joe action figures, as well as an animated series. Will that draw in viewers? Max Steel apparently has a large following in Latin America: While Mattel’s Big Jim 12-inch action figure series died out in the U.S. in before the 1980s, it was thriving there. Original Max Steel figures wore Big Jim clothes and were packaged with the same accessories. In the 1970s Big Jim was sold in Latin American countries as Kid Acero, or “Kid Steel”.
Will Max Steel usher in the eagerly awaited return of Hasbro’s Mike Power, the Atomic Man? That would be a fun blast from the past.
Check out this trailer for Mattel’s theatrical release of Max Steel:
