We first got word that Max Steel, the big screen adaption of Mattel’s popular line of action figures, was coming our way in 2009, but expired rights, original star Taylor Lautner jumping ship to headline another movie based on a toy (Stretch Armstrong if you’re wondering), and not knowing when to actually release it kept the movie on the shelf till now. Production finished at the start of Summer 2014, but we’re only now getting our first trailer and an October 21st release (in America. We’re still waiting to hear about this side of the pond). The movie is an original story through and through, with teenager Max McGrath (Ben Winchell) moving back to the town where he was born, where he is blasted with a mysterious energy while looking into the secret past of his father, who died shortly after Max was born. Discovering he can now manipulate energy, he is joined by the alien Steel (voiced by Silicon Valley’s Josh Brener), who he merges with to become Max Steel, an armoured superhero who seems to have gotten design tip from watching Tron and Iron Man.
This is aimed solely at the young adult set, and while it probably won’t dethrone the current king of toy to movie adaptions, Transformers, it still promises to be fun, if incredibly cheesy. The thing is it’s been proven with YA movies that superhero-esque adventures like this don’t really cut the mustard with their target audience. Just look at I Am Number Four or Jumper. Dystopian future is the way to go really, but we’ll see if Max Steel can change that.
This is aimed solely at the young adult set, and while it probably won’t dethrone the current king of toy to movie adaptions, Transformers, it still promises to be fun, if incredibly cheesy. The thing is it’s been proven with YA movies that superhero-esque adventures like this don’t really cut the mustard with their target audience. Just look at I Am Number Four or Jumper. Dystopian future is the way to go really, but we’ll see if Max Steel can change that.
