Review of Real Steel (2011) by Drlowdon — 18 May 2014

In the near future, for reasons that are only briefly alluded to, boxing has been replaced by the ‘Robot Boxing League’. A down on his luck ex-boxer (and now robot boxing promoter) finds out he has an eleven year old son and they attempt to take a discarded old robot to the top of game.

Real Steel is basically a mis-mash of the Rocky movies featuring giant robots and that is every bit as ridiculous and entertaining as that sounds. The story of a father connecting with his previously unknown son is clichéd, and occasionally a bit to saccharine, not really doing anything that hasn’t been seen in hundreds of other movies but thanks to the excellent visual effects and well directed action sequences this is a film that achieves exactly what it sets out to do.