Real Steel - 3 smiles

“Real Steel” is definitely a crowd-pleaser. Director Shawn Levy manages to skillfully integrate all elements of his story from the well-staged fighting sequences to the heart-tugging emotional bond that develops between father and son. It’s unapologetically sentimental, but it also has you cheering for the underdog. And by the time it’s over, you want to see it again. Sometime in the near future, human boxing has been replaced by robot boxing. The giant creatures are controlled by their owners and they often battle to the death. One of those owners is Charlie (Hugh Jackman), himself a former boxer. He’s also a jerk, betting on his robots, losing regularly and running out on his debts. Charlie is at his lowest point when he finds out a former girlfriend has died. Although Charlie knows about the son they had together, he has never seen him. The girlfriend’s sister (Hope Davis) has a wealthy husband (James Rebhorn) who’s willing to give Charlie enough money to buy a new robot if he’ll care for the now 11-year-old Max (Dakota Goyo) for the summer. Then, Charlie is to turn Max over to his new parents. Charlie and Max end up bonding around a broken-down junkyard robot named Atom that they train. Of course, Atom turns out to be a phenomenal boxer and they soon have a match with Zeus, the robot champ, who’s bigger, faster and more technologically equipped.

Jackman’s Charlie transitions from irresponsible man-child to sensible adult because he gets to know Max. Dakota Goyo’s performance as the stubborn Max is full of attitude, but not overly cute. He holds his own on screen with the charismatic Jackman. Evangeline Lilly, who plays Bailey, Charlie’s longtime friend and possible love interest, is good, but her character is too underdeveloped. Interestingly enough, for the robots, character is conveyed through appearance. Atom, the underdog, looks clunky and old-fashioned, but with his glowing blue eyes, sentience is certainly suggested (but not addressed). Zeus, the boxing champion, is sleek and intimidating and by using motion capture, the CGI crew has created believable robots. “Real Steal” is enjoyable entertainment. See it and you’ll cheer for Atom, too. 10/7/11