Real Steel (2011)

First off the main reason I went to see this
is becasue I like robots. and this has plenty of them!
and I would have to say that they make this movie
drip with cool but this movie is not only cool but it
is heart felt as well the human aspect is just as important
as the flashy robots duking it out.
the story is basically about this down and out
boxer (played by Hugh Jackman) who is trying to make
a living with a broken down old robot on the fringes of
the Sport. Then he finds out that the mother of this son has
passed away and he is the sole guardian of the young
boy (played by Dakota Goyo). he makes a deal with his
sister in law's husband to take the boy for the summer
while they go on vacation, as well as some money for signing the kid over to them.
both father and son are not thrilled to be together
but they try to make the best of it.
During a scrounging mission for parts in a junk yard
for parts they come across a broken down old robot named Atom
and take him back were they are staying at and have him fixed
up by Jackman's mechanic/roommate/childhood friend/Love interest
Bailey Tallet (played by Evangeline Lilly) the robot Atom
comes off as something special, something worth keeping and
the father and son go on the road and fight there way up
the ladder to an actually main event title shot for the
robot boxing league and along the way the boy learns more
and more about his father and the two bond over this shared
experience and Jackman's character learns that there is more important
things in life then money.

Now I know the story seems somewhat simplistic and it is
true, while watching this I leaned over to my friend that
went with me and said "I know where this is going, I know what
is going to happen" and sure enough I was right.
Now even with that I can't say it took way from the movie
at all. because the old saying goes "its not the destination
that matters its the journey" and I thought going from the
opening to the end credits was a very nice journey.
I would have to say that the movie itself was well crafted
it was excellently written as well as acted. I felt this
was a very powerful movie aside from all the robot action
which of course was expertly done and overly exciting
the Robots and the robot effects were jaw droppingly good.
but the human element was well handled. this wasn't
a movie that was all about the flashy robots but actually
had emotion and a very human feel to it.

Around the end of the movie was this really touching moment
where the boy gets to see how great this father was as a boxer
while he uses Atoms "Shadow Mode" (The robot mimics what the
control person does) and Evangeline Lilly character
gets to see him pretty much "fight one last fight"
that moment is so emotionally charged you want to jump up and
cheer.

Also talking about emotion I thought at many times the
robot Atom was developing a personality, as if he was becoming
alive with thought and feeling all its own..
There was a scene were Atom is sitting on a table and his
body is a bit slumped forward but its head is tilted towards
a full length mirror and it looks like it is looking at itself
as it is looking at its own reflection.
I thought for sure at that moment that the eyes would flash
or blink or it would say something or move in someway that
would show you that it had a spark of life.
It didn't of course but it makes you think that it did.

In the end this film was very good from start to finish
and alot of people were saying that it was just like
"Rocky but with Robots" and I would have to say that
the comparison is pretty correct, that is how I would
describe it its this generation's "Rocky" but that
aside this movie was amazing and I would have to say that
it is a must see.