'Real Steel' delivers fun, robot action

From the first second of the trailer of "Real Steel" one typically knows what to expect. For all the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots jokes that can be made however, the important question that should be asked of any movie is whether or not it entertains. My answer is that it does indeed, provided your expectations are set appropriately.

"Real Steel" features Hugh Jackman as washed up boxer Charlie Kenton, who has moved on to control Robots in the futuristic sport of Robot Boxing. Charlie finds himself deep in debt after losing his last two robots in illegal fights for cash, threatening his financial security. After his son Max played by Dakota Goyo, finds and fixes an old sparring bot, designed to take heavy hits and keep operating, Charlie sees it as his opportunity to get out of debt.

"Real Steel" can be called a lot of things but original is not one of them. The story is essentially "Rocky" with a robot. The father and son bond over their robot's rise to the top of the professional World Robot Boxing league while coming across every other underdog cliché you can think of. Although there are points in which the movie tries to hint that Atom, the refurbished sparring robot that they're using to compete, may have a level of self-aware artificial intelligence, this potential plot thread ultimately leads nowhere, reinforcing that this is a by the numbers underdog story.

I can however compliment the cast for their solid performances. The chemistry between the cast, particularly Jackman and Goyo, is solid and Jackman plays up the dead-beat father and washed-up has-been so well that you almost love to hate him until he makes his predictable turnaround. For a film that doesn't exactly try to stretch itself on story, it's nice to know that a decent effort at least went into its execution.

The true reason to watch "Real Steel" is the robot-on-robot action, which does not disappoint in the slightest. The animatronics and CG effects used for the Robots are top notch and every blow is cringe inducingly powerful. The robots are far from stationary either. They don't just stand still and take hits but duck, bob and weave, jump and generally perform as any human boxer would in the ring. Although the fights themselves involving Atom are ultimately predictable in terms of outcome, watching the robots in action does, if nothing else, make for a fun afternoon.

"Real Steel" isn't a great movie by any means; far from it. It makes the choice to play it safe at every possible corner. However, through solid acting and fun action, the film does succeed in being solid popcorn entertainment. It may be Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots the movie but Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots is fun so I don't see much to complain about.