I didn’t think much of Real Steek when it came out last year. Seemed a little cheesy to me. After watching it, I’ve come away more impressed than anything.

Real Steel owes a lot to Rocky. It’s an underdog boxing story set in the not to distant future. Human boxing has been outlawed and robot fighting as taken it’s place. Audiences wanted more unholds barred and feroucious fighting and when robots are pummeling each other, it’s quite the spectacle. Charlie (Hugh Jackman) is a former boxer, current dead beat dad. When his ex dies, his son Max (who he hasn’t seen in 10 years) comes to live with him for the summer.

The set up is pretty standard and while the movie is rather predictable (estranged father and son grow close when they bond over a common interest) the movie won me over with it’s charm. It also helps that the robot special effects are fantastic. Boxing is quickly becoming passe as MMA continues to dominate professional fighting today. The choregraphy and motion capture for the fighting robots was done by professional boxers and supervised by Sugar Ray Leonard. Great idea and execusion that shows off some terrific fighting on screen. I can’t remember the last time I was that entertained watching boxing, The chemistry between Charlie and Max is good and there are some funny moments. There was a surprising amount of light cursing (I think they could have changed it pretty easily without it being awkward) and the robot violence got this a PG-13 rating but I think this is great for kids 10 and over.

At 2 hours it felt a little too long, but it doesn’t hold Real Steel back from being a good movie. Great for a rainy day this fall.