Real Steel is the Real Deal
Hugh Jackman delivers a powerful lead role in this rock em' sock em' robots film and although the movie tends to be a bit cheesy at times it's a feel good flick that ends in a very rewarding way.
The movie starts out by showing Jackman driving to a carnival in order to make a little money fighting a bull with a robot. This scene is a bit twisted in that a robot is beating up a live animal(it's enough to piss off PETA) and leaves the viewer wondering what they've gotten themselves into, but after that scene the movie progresses very nicely.
In a nutshell the movie is about Jackman having to take care of his eleven year old son(played by Dakota Goyo) he has never met before while trying to make some money for himself fighting in a robot boxing league. The father-son development aspect of the movie does take a backseat to the metal on metal action at times, but there is a great underlying development seen between Jackman and the boy all the way up to the end of the film.
There is also a bit of a love interest for the main character played by Evangeline Lily(known for her role as Kate in Lost) and that is an even smaller development that just adds to the quality of the movie and keeps the viewer interested in Jackman's life.
As the movie progresses father and son find a common interest in robot boxing and begin gaining popularity when they start winning some matches with a sparring bot that was built only to take hits. With Jackman's knowledge of boxing(being a former human boxer himself) and Goyo's non-stop faith in the bot the two fight their way up to the robot championship's making quite a reputation along the way.
Many of the scenes are predictable and even the ending was obvious but it was rewarding the whole way through. In the end the movie is a touching father-son story with mindless robot rough housing to spice it up, but it has a sort of charm to it that keep the viewer interested.
If you want to go see robots beat the crap out of each other this is the movie for you. If you're a Hugh Jackman fan this flick won't let you down. If you want to go see a movie with your dad this is the movie this one will be your best bet. If you don't have a dad then go see Real Steel to see what you're missing out on. This movie gets an 8.5 out of 10.
