Max Steel (2016)

Max Steel
"This October, you cannot unleash your power."
Genre: Sci-Fi, Superhero Directed By: Stewart Hendler Produced By: Bill O'Dowd Julia Pistor Written By/Screenplay: Christopher L. Yost Starring: Ben Winchell Maria Bello Ana Villafañe Josh Brener Andy García Photography: Color Cinematography: Brett Pawlak Distributed By: Open Road Films Release Date: October 14, 2016 Runtime: 92 minutes Country: United States United Kingdom Language: English Budget: $5–10 million Box Office: $6.3 million

Max Steel is a 2016 American superhero film based on the 2013 action-figure line and the television series of the same name, based on the 1999 action-figure line and the television series of the same name. (Not to be really confused with two different gasps of the franchise's source materials for these toy-lines and these TV Shows) Directed by Stewart Hendler and written by Christopher Yost.

Plot

Teenager Max McGrath (Ben Winchell) discovers that his body can generate the most powerful energy in the universe. Steel (Josh Brener) is a funny, slightly rebellious, techno-organic extraterrestrial who wants to utilize Max's skills. When the two meet, they combine to become Max Steel, a superhero with unmatched strength on Earth. They soon learn to rely on each other when Max Steel must square off against an unstoppable enemy from another galaxy.

Why It Doesn't Go Turbo

1. Extremely poor grasp of the source material for a movie being based on the underrated 2013 series of the same name. For example, Max looks nothing like his television series and action figure counterparts.
2. An unoriginal story that is generic and boring with attempts to be grounded.
3. The acting is very horrible that ranges from painful to lifeless and emotionless.
4. Awful pacing and editing.
   • For example: in the scene where Max falls from his bike, it happens too fast and the action scenes are too fast. 
   • The lighting and cinematography in this movie look very appealing as some of the scenes are way too dark to even see anything and understand what is happening.
5. Lame action scenes.
   • The training scene is poorly choreographed and edited and the pacing is bad; for example, when Max is making flips, it just looks fake and looks like it was filmed on a green screen.
   • The final battle is lame and the stunts are awful.
6. Unlikable and poorly-written characters with almost no character development whatsoever.
   • Steel feels more like an annoying comic character than a helpful character like he was in the 2013 TV show. Moreover, due to how his behavior is set and the being a flying tiny annoying robot makes him appear as a cheap rip-off of Wesley from Portal series.
   • Miles Edwards (who is Miles Dredd's film counterpart) is a bland and uninteresting villain with a generic plan that many other villains had.
7. It rips off other superhero movies like Spider-Man and Iron Man.
8. Max is supposed to be a teenager yet he looks more like a college student. Even his actor, Ben Winchell, was not a great casting choice as Max mainly because he is a bit too old to play him.
9. It tries so hard to be much darker and grittier like FANT4STIC, which makes no sense since Max Steel was supposed to be for kids.
10. There's a lame plot twist about Max's father.
11. Bad costume design. Max's armor looks more like Iron Man, but with lightning bolts (in fact, some nicknamed him Teen Iron Man) and Edwards looks like a generic Power Rangers villain. In fairness, the only good thing about them is the high-tech effects.
12. A very predictable ending that was spoiled in the trailers.
13. Lame attempts at humor.
14. The movie ends on a cliffhanger as Max is training how to fly and then the movie just abruptly ends after he flies away.
15. False advertising: The poster shows Max wearing his outfit, but he doesn't wear it until later in the movie.
16. Cringeworthy dialogue.
17. Poor writing, just like Batman & Robin, which wasted the talents of the movie's teleplay Christopher Yost. He is an American film, television, animation, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe with Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok and on The Mandalorian for Lucasfilm and Disney+.
18. The white plates on the suit look flat, like a store-bought Halloween costume.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Despite being a low-budget movie, the special and CGI effects aren't that bad. The suit effects are great, but still, it can't save the movie.
2. Decent voice acting from Josh Brener as Steel and his CGI is decent even for a low-budget movie standard.
3. The soundtrack is decent, even if it's a bit scary.

Reception

When it was released, the movie was panned by critics, moviegoers, and fans alike. It currently holds a 0% rating on rotten tomatoes, with a consensus stating: Bereft of characterization or even satisfying rock 'em sock 'em, Max Steel feels like futzing with an action figure without any childhood imagination. and it's the worst-reviewed movie based on a toy line on that site, along with: The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. It also failed at the Box Office.

Box Office

It only grossed 6.3 million dollars against its 5-10 million dollar budget, which was one of the main reasons that the movie was not shown in theaters.

External Links

• Max Steel at the Internet Movie Database
• Max Steel on Rotten Tomatoes

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