Real Steel: An Unexpected Tale of Heart

Real Steel is a movie that does not prove predictable by any means. Directed by a director with a string of childish movies such as Night of the Museum, Pink Panther, and Big Fat Liar, Shawn Levy shows surprising depth and talent in this 127 minute feature. Starring Hugh Jackman (Wolverine, The Prestige), Evangeline Lily (Lost), and Dakota Leyo (Thor), this movie has a leading cast that leads this movie to success.

The viewer expects to enter the theater to watch at best, a thrilling copy-off of Transformers but this movie proves that theory wrong in all aspects. The movie opens with Hugh Jackman as the lone wolf, driving a large truck to the middle of nowhere and staging a bull fight against his at least fifteen foot robot. Jackman's character, Charlie, proves cocky and untrustworthy as well as broke in the first fifteen minutes. He cheats off of everyone and is always moving from place to place on edge. Always betting that he will slip by. After ditching his last robot, he immediately places a call for a new and improved one and drives back to his lifelong friend, Bailey, (Lily) and her gym.

Somewhere in the midst of all of this excitement, Jackman's legal son, Max, is thrust upon him after the boy's mother dies. Charlie only agrees to take him for the summer after making a deal with Max's aunt's older rich husband. Not five minutes after he is left with Charlie, Max guesses this and attempts to bargain with Charlie for the money so that he can leave. Surprisingly Dakota's performance is both skilled and humorous as opposed to other boy characters before him with a main role. There seems to be a stark, no love between "father" and son.

As soon as Charlie is stuck with Max he attempts to be rid of him by pushing him off into Bailey's hands. This is a no go, as Max becomes excited about the new robot fighter and threatens his way into coming along for the next fight. The fight is a failure, and Charlie is all to blame. He risks everything without a care about how good of a chance he can get. The story really kicks off once Max and Charlie stumble upon a near ancient sparring robot named Atom at the junk yard.

Despite Charlie's immediate doubts and hesitations, he finally agrees to set up a few fights for it and against all odds, Atom wins. The plot progresses amazingly fast as the audience is taken on an extraordinary journey against all odds of a robot that acts surprisingly human and learns just as fast as well. The boy refuses to give up on it and as a result, the robot does not give up either.

The romance is not overdone between Bailey and Charlie although it's obvious they have a complicated romantic past. And really, it is for the best. It would have taken away from the truly incredible unsuspected father and son relationship that grows. Jackman really exceeds in his role as Charlie, the talented ex-boxer, that gets caught up in his son's excitement for the robot that changed both of their lives for the better. This role of his only made him respect him that much more and take on a new admiration for the range he displays in all of his movies. His acting reminds me a bit of Clint Eastwood's.

It's a story of beating the odds, but also of the underdog that rises above. This movie will have you rooting for Atom, shouting in your seat in anxiety, and even shedding a few tears at the intensity played out on screen. I never expected to love this movie or even like it but it far exceeded anything I would have dreamed. I would gladly return to theaters to see it again and encourage audiences of all ages to be caught up in the inspiring story of a father, his son, and the robot they decided to take a chance on.

The special effects are astounding and the acting is top quality. Viewers will not be disappointed. Then again it is produced by Steven Steilberg, so of course it must be worthy.