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Real Steel

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, and Dakota Goyo
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Screenplay by: John Gatins and Dan Gilroy

It's Rocky meets Transformers in the huge clash of action in Real Steel.
It's not too far into the future, and the world of boxing has changed a little bit.  No longer are people in the boxing ring.  Instead, robots have taken over this new generation of boxing.  In this new game, it seems as though the old dogs must learn new tricks.
Charlie Kenton is a broke robot boxer (once a real boxer before the game changed) in a sport that he is no longer very good at.  He has become a bad bet for those who invest their money and robots with him.  Meanwhile, Charlie is involved in a custody battle over his son, Max, between him and his ex-girlfriend's sister.  Charlie is allowed to take Max for the summer and get to know his son, even though he does not have legal custody of Max.  Max is a big fan of robot boxing, so Charlie shows him what it's like.  When they find an old, seemingly useless robot, Max sees a champion in it.  It's name is Atom, and nobody is willing to have their robot fight Atom.  They think Atom poses no challenge at all, and for this reason, nobody takes Charlie and Max seriously at first.  But then, Atom starts winning fights, and if you've seen other sports movies that involve an underdog, you can probably guess the rest of the story (but you'll probably be wrong).
I think the best part of the film is the relationship between Charlie and Max.  They are both very different characters at the end of the film than they are at the beginning.  Initially, Charlie is rather overconfident in his robots and isn't really fond of the idea of raising his son.  He goes through three different robots during the movie, but Atom is really the one on which the story focuses.  Also, Max is afraid of what will happen to the robots at first.  Although he is a fan, he still worries about the dangers of the sport.  The change in these characters happens after they find Atom.  Max begins to take on the role of a team manager and Charlie takes on the role of the coach, with Atom being the player.  Max becomes more overconfident in Atom's abilities to withstand tough matches, and Charlie begins to question Max's decisions to put Atom in these tough fights.  They both mature in very different ways.  Max becomes the tough fighter, and Charlie becomes the loving father.
The fight scenes are certainly noteworthy.  I think it's safe to say that many people like watching giant fighting robots.  I certainly do.  If that's the thing you're into, then you'll definitely like Real Steel.  Some of the robots are animatronic figures, while some of them are made completely from CGI.  It's actually quite hard to tell which robots are which.
Real Steel is a movie in which an audience member can pick a robot to root for.  It feels like you're watching a sporting event rather than a movie.  We grow quite attached to these characters and by the end of the movie, it's pretty hard not to cheer for one of the robots.  If you liked Rocky or The Fighter, and you thought Transformers was cool, then Real Steel is the movie for you.  It's action packed, and has a great story with characters we can associate with.  I strongly recommend seeing it.
The robots will clash with a B+.

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