Father, son reconnect over boxing robots in ‘Real Steel’
By Matt Grantz, Assistant Editor
October 24 , 2011
 “Real Steel” is a story about robots that battle each other in a form of boxing which has replaced human boxing. It is also the story of a young boy and his father who are able to bond over their robot.
The story begins with Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), a former human boxer, at a fair in Texas. At the fair, Kenton uses his robot to battle a large bull and ends up losing to the bull. Unfortunately, Charlie bet a large amount of money on the fight and is forced to flee the fair, but before he leaves, he is informed that his son’s mother has died and that there will be a custody hearing.
At the hearing, the boy’s aunt Debra (Hope Davis) attempts to take custody of Max (Dakota Goyo), Charlie’s son, but Charlie strikes a deal with her rich husband Marvin (James Rebhorn). The deal says that Charlie will supervise the boy for two months while Debra and Marvin vacation in Italy. In return, Charlie will receive $100,000.
Once Max is with Charlie, they begin spending time together, including attending a robot boxing match. After the match the father and son break into a recycling yard in search of parts to rebuild Charlie’s robot. While there, Max stumbles upon a robot named Atom, which he is determined to use in a boxing match.
The story of Charlie and Max is a touching father-son love story about bonding and redemption. Additionally, Max develops a great affection for Atom, much as a child does for a stuffed animal, providing a touching back story. And finally, throughout “Real Steel” another love story develops between Charlie and a female, a relationship which will surely appeal to anyone.
In addition to well defined characters, “Real Story” showcases great special effects. The scenes of robots duking it out are comparable to action seen in the “Transformers” series. However, in “Real Steel” the action is a bit slower and more contained -- because it takes place in a boxing ring -- actually making the action better and easier to follow.
“Real Steel” suffers from only two problems. The first is that the story develops somewhat slowly leaving the audience to wonder what is going on. The second problem is that the premise of the story is a little ridiculous. The story, set in 2020, expects the audience to accept that giant robots fight and walk around as if it’s no big deal. Additionally, I highly doubt that human boxing could be replaced so quickly and completely in nine years.
Despite the silliness of the story, “Real Steel” is an excellent film and is one of very few movies I would be willing to return to theaters to watch again. DreamWorks is already planning a sequel to “Real Steel,” and I must say I cannot wait for it to come out.
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