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Visitors Review

Tathagat Verma 2012-05-25 20:53:28

Entertaining but predictable!!

It's an interesting tale of a father and son, trying to find and revivea lost relationship. Set in the midst of a sport-of-the-future, Robot-Boxing; where instead of people, remote controlled robotic-machinesfight the battle. The story brings up the trying-hard-loser, CharlieKenton's (Hugh Jackman) survival saga (or so to say), who once was aprofessional boxer and now fights in the robot-boxing arenas; has beentrying to make it through a troubled relationship with Bailey Tallet(Evangeline Lilly), who happens to be his mechanic and his trainer'sdaughter. During the early stages of the story Charlie finds out thathis ex has passed away, leaving his son, Max (Dakota Goyo) behind whohe himself had abandoned as a child. And from there on starts a story,which is very similar something you would've seen in couple of theStallone movies (namely Over the top and Rocky), with only a slightcomic-angle, per se. Though the performances and screenplay turn out asextremely entertaining, especially the fight-sequences. One specific isan outlawed arena where Charlie and Max fight their newly found Robotfrom a junkyard, against an oaf robot within an outlawed arena. Thesecond-half grips pretty well, but is extremely predictable whenportraying the typical David-Goliath battle with an almost-rudimentarytwist. Overall, a good watch!!

Manraz Khalsa 2012-05-25 04:07:44

Dependence On Technology

Set in a not-so-distant future where human fisticuffs are now passé andthe new craze is all robot-boxing, Real Steel stars Hugh Jackman asCharlie Kenton, a washed-up ex-pugilist who struggles to make a livingfrom getting his low-end robots into underground fights. Brash andshortsighted, Charlie pits his mechanical fighters against rivals thatare impossible to defeat; no wonder he's buried in debt, and each ofhis robots badly destroyed. Just when things can't possibly get anyworse, he's burdened with the responsibility of his estranged11-year-old son Max (Dakota Goyo), a stubborn kid who insists thatCharlie rebuild an outdated scrap-yard robot named Atom, and train himfor the fight circuit.Directed by Night at the Museum's Shawn Levy and produced by StevenSpielberg, Real Steel is equal parts noisy action movie, and father-sonbonding drama. The boxing scenes are thrillingly filmed, including aclassic David vs Goliath climax; it's the film's emotional journey thatfeels like pure cheese. Borrowing its blueprint from the classic sportsfilm The Champ, father and son resolve their differences, the kidbecomes a partner, his dad grows up, and everyone turns into a betterperson.A less charismatic actor might have collapsed under the weight of suchformulaic writing, but Hugh Jackman holds on to his dignity till thevery end, where he feeds every move to Atom by shadow boxing. DakotaGoyo has some endearing moments as the precocious Max, especially thosebits where he teaches Atom some nifty dance steps. But if Real Steelworks, it's purely and singularly on the strength of its hulking metalwarriors that pack a solid, determined punch.I'm going with two-and-a-half out of five for Real Steel. Thethunderous action alone makes up for the strictly standardstorytelling.

leecjaster 2012-05-25 18:17:38

Despite the flaws, Real Steel is a fun ride.

Hugh Jackman is one likable guy. It's a gift. Jackman, despite allodds, has retained his ability to somehow give a memorable performancein a movie that is far, far better that it should be.Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots Real Steel is a family flick with impressivevisuals, real characters, and fun to spare. Yes, it's horribly cliché,filled with sometimes groan-worthy dialog, and includes side storiesthat are little more than afterthoughts, but it doesn't matter. RealSteel is going to entertain everyone between the ages of 10 - 15, andit keeps enough redeeming qualities that anyone over that age can sitthrough it entertained and surprisingly involved.Real Steel follows Charlie Kenton (Jackman), a former boxer known forhis never-say-die spirit, dealing with life after his professionalcareer in the ring is over. Charlie is hopping from town to town tryingto make ends meet fighting robots. Charlie lucks into a situation withhis son, whom he left a decade ago, enabling him to get some quick cashand get back in the ring.With his son Max along for the ride, the two slowly share a bondtogether, born out of Atom, a scrap yard robot whom the pair hasdecided to put in the ring for one last shot at the big time. As Maxdances and showboats pre-fight, Charlie slowly teaches the robot somefighting moves. Atom becomes a minor sensation, and eventually leadsthe pair into the professional ring, all of which leads up to ashowdown with the undefeated champion of the the robot boxing world,Zeus.There's no spoilers here, everyone heading into Real Steel knowsexactly where the narrative is headed. The slightly flat love storybetween Charlie and Bailey, played by Kate Evangeline LIlly (thedaughter of the boxing gym owner who gave Charlie his big break), isdevoid of chemistry, but there's plenty of likability and smiles.There's no tension to the backdrop of Max's situation in regards to hismother's untimely death which thrust him into Charlie's life, nor isthere anything palpable to the thrown together characters Charlie comesinto contact with on his way to betting his robot in the ring.But none of that matters...The shortcomings of Real Steel don't matter in the end, becausedirector Shawn Levy has managed to craft highly immersive robotfighting sequences that are amazingly destructive and brutal. Themachines look fantastic on the big screen, and the attention to detailin the fighting sequences keeps the audience wanting more and more.The only reason the action works, the most surprising aspect of theentire production, is that Charlie and Max are well rounded characterswith an interesting dynamic. It's hard to imagine this from thetrailers and previews, but they absolutely work on-screen in capturinga growing bond filled with moments of strain and light-hearted joking.Real Steel is the case of a director with nothing to say (Levy alsodirected Night at the Museum), telling a story that doesn't have muchto say which hasn't been beaten into the ground before, and doing it ina way that is so fun and enjoyable its sickening. Real Steel simplyworks, despite all its flaws and corny moments, Real Steel contendsuntil the final bell.OverallNo matter how amazingly terrible Real Steel could have been, it's givenlife because of Jackman and the impressive visuals. Real Steel simplywouldn't have made it without a stellar looking robot fighting sequenceor two, and Jackman is able to somehow take every line of corny dialogand add... something. One time it's a smirk, another time its the vaguehint of a tear, and then it's that Jackman smile that lights up theentire theater. Jackman is the MVP of Real Steel, even if he is on an 8- 8 team come playoff time.

Bollywood_Chewbacca 2012-05-25 05:03:25

truly under rated... treat to watch

by saying this i am referring to the critics or the so called TVanchors who receive money for giving the so called stars to themovie... I think they need to change their outlook and take movie orlook at it from more public point of view.. Even when i entered thehall i had little expectations, but came out with a smiling face.. themovie is so well crated and so stylishly made that it just takes thebreath away.. each and every shot of the film is made with so much tolook into it so that u have to look 10 times to get the whole beauty..jacksman as usual is flawless,while the child star is making her ownstatement.. the thriller,action,suspense and just everything keeps ujammed to your seat till last.. Sound track is just brilliant and themovie touches you at many instances.. its a must watch.. and surely themovie is not for the duds,who don't like stylish and like familymovies.. And uncles...please grow up to the generation

BornAssassin 2012-05-23 20:10:21

Jab Jab Jab!

Oh boy! Didn't expect this out of aI-got-nothing-to-do-so-let's-watch-a-movie movie. Sweet memories ofRocky kicking his foes revived. Pepped up and fun, not a boring momentthroughout, the movie actually had me throwing imaginary punches in theair! Hugh was his usual reckless charismatic self with the new kid givingsome high performance moves and fantastic dialogue delivery. DakotaGoyo sure has some talent. What would I not give to see the "robotdance" by an actual robot! Plus with the audience in the theatercheering every robot punch given and jeering every blow taken, Iactually felt I was ring side. Where else would you get to watch anamazing late night boxing match? Totally worth the time. This movie has a lot of spark, spirit andenergy to it. Finally, well done Shawn Levy!

collipal-1 2012-05-23 03:09:28

Boring despite its solid special effects

Many people is comparing the film Real Steel with the classic toy"Rock'em Sock'em Robots", but the truth is that the popular culture hasa long history of robot fights, from the entertaining films Robot Joxand Crash and Burn, to the memorable episode from The Twilight Zonetitled Steel (mmh...curious), without forgetting the chapters ofFuturama which rounded on Bender and its incursions on wrestling. RealSteel surpasses all its predecessor regarding the quality of thespecial effects...but for the rest, it has such a simple,pre-fabricated and corny screenplay that it was impossible for me toget interested in it.The conflict between father and son looks like director Shawn Levy'sfavorite formula, because it had already been employed in the tediousNight at the Museum and its atrocious sequel. In that aspect, RealSteel does not offer anything new; the dialogs are painfully weak ("Youhave been working with robots for such a long time that you ended upbecoming into one of them"), the emotions from the human characters aremore artificial than the ones from the mechanical boxers, and themoments of the biggest melodrama produce unintentional laughs insteadof a lump in the throat. Besides, it was impossible for me to swallowthe premise that in 20 or 30 years from now, the robotic technologywill advance enough in order to create the fighting machines portrayedin the movie. That looks like a concept taken from the '50s, whichignores the contemporary technology in order to jump to an"alternative" future, more consistent with the TV series The Jetsonsthan with the digital environment we are living in now. Besides, Inever understood whether the robots had a conscience or if they weremere puppets from their "trainers". I guess that screenwriter JohnGatins wanted to create a similar friendship between a boy and a robotto the one portrayed in The Iron Giant, but unfortunately withoutgetting himself into science fiction subjects, like the definition ofthe conscience and the rights of the robots.Hugh Jackman showed talent for bringing realism to characters in afantastic environment in the films The Fountain, The Prestige and thefirst 4 installments of X-Men. However, his character in Real Steel isso poorly written that he cannot do too much with it. Evangeline Lillyis only used for being a pretty face. And the kid Dakota Gayo brings anadequate performance. However, the main stars of the film are therobots, which were well created by the studio Digital Domain. Theymight not reach the level of detail portrayed in Transformers, but thatdoes not avoid them from being solid special effects on their ownmerit.However, the good special effects did not avoid me to find Real Steelpretty boring, mainly because of its weak screenplay and the fact thatI did not find the action scenes exciting at all. In conclusion, I donot recommend it.

Bob Barker 2012-05-21 21:25:57

Looking to waste some time? Not someone who cares about plausibility?

You might enjoy Real Steel! A tale about a man who chose to spend hislife pursuing victory in the, cough, noble and productive "robotboxing" trade while incurring idiotic debts to naive and soon to bebetrayed lenders. One of his only smart moves, he bribes a rich guy tolet him make family matters seem nice for a while and take temporarycustody of a boy who was born via his sperm. The boy is three timessmarter than the, um, protagonist?, and travels with him while teachinghim how to save up for purchases as difficult as a candy bar and mendsome of the terrible relationships which he, um, built. Are you asdepressed as I am? Pass some of your life away! Watch REAL STEEL! Justdon't pay for a ticket.

stephen-dhondt-968-27576 2012-05-21 04:22:31

well balanced escapism

People who whine about this movie being 'too Hollywood' ... guys, youwere warned, it stars a little kid and has 'directed by Shawn Levy' onthe poster.When it comes to story, this film is nothing new. It indeed packs inevery single cliché from every single sports movie ever made ... buthey, so did Warrior, and that one is getting critical acclaim and Oscarbuzz.Just view this as a fun filled ride. It has incredible CGI Robots thatare believable in a real world setting (instead of those aneurysminducing Michael Bay contraptions). The drama/action ratio is wellbalanced and it'll leave you uplifted without feeling too syrupy.Some movies CAN just be about escapism people, and this is one of thosemovies. A well deserved 7 out of 10 from me.

Ehab 2012-05-20 22:21:04

Loved it

The movie was just great and it is worth watching. Kids will love it.Critics!: it is not an Oscar movie so simply watch it and have somefun. The story is not as predictable as you would think and it got sometwists. I hated Hugh Jackman at the beginning but he managed be good.Evangeline Lilly is HOOOOOOOT!!! she is just adorable and cute and noone can forget her from Lost. The kid was funny, but needed more linesin the movie. i would really recommend the movie, it is fun and comedywith a lot of action especially if you like Sci-Fi movie. It is a rarebreed of film that can be thoroughly enjoyed by all ages i gave it 9 of10

romealwatson 2012-05-20 13:45:44

Rock'em Sock'em Robots Meets Rocky 1, 3 and 4, and Over the Top

Overall the movie was pretty decent. They played it very safe, and didnot bite off more than it could chew. I think it will do well, simplybecause it didn't try to do too much. The writer should have some niceresiduals coming.Outside of that, the movie seemed to have used a lot of Stallone moviereferences. In the final scenes, it almost copied Rocky 1, 3 and 4 to a"T". The way Atom was being beaten, then began his comeback from asingle explosive hit; that was the Ivan Drago scene almost directly.The way Zeus began to tire after punching too much, was Clubber Langein Rocky 3, and the whole idea of giving a nobody a chance to fight thechamp,then losing by decision, is Rocky 1.The whole father son custody battle relationship thing and the motherdies, is almost like another Stallone movie called "Over the Top".The likely sequel almost seems predictable, just go watch Rocky 2, orperhaps we will get to see a new bot introduced and end up destroyingZeus similar to how Apollo was killed. Maybe Atom will becomeself-activating, maybe Atoms original maker will make an appearancepresenting a much evolved version of Atom's model. It can go in a lot of directions all of them good, but I see much moreripping of the classics in the future additions.

darkangrywolf9 2012-05-20 12:28:53

Great movie overall

The plot is nothing special. Jackman is a deadbeat dad, Goyo dislikeshis father for abandoning him and then selling him to his uncle, theyfind robot, train robot, underdog wins a lot, then they get separatedwhen the aunt and uncle come back. At the end, the kid and Jackman getto fight the robot boxing champion, Zeus, in a championship match (theReal Steel). They lose, but only by technicality from the judges. Thepeople see their robot as the winner, and the match actually ended tiedto begin with anyway. Nothing at all special. Don't get me wrongthough, they tell it competently and rather well. Overall, the plot onit's own (even with some bits I didn't mention to not give away thewhole movie) gets a 6/10. The reason I give a 9, is because the actionsscenes are beyond amazing. I'm not one for boxing or wrestling, I muchprefer martial arts like Karate or Judo or sword fighting like Kendo,but the boxing scenes are really the best part of the movie. Honeslty,I got really into these scenes. If you go and see this, remember toturn off you brain and enjoy robots beating each other up. The jokeabout this being "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots" does not do this moviejustice.

changmoh 2012-05-20 04:34:07

'Real Steel' is Real Fun with Rocky Robots

THE BIG DEAL in this Disney movie set in the 2020s is robot-boxing. Theidea is adapted from Richard Matheson's 1956 short story "Steel"previously shown on TV as an episode of "The Twilight Zone." Just thinkof "Rocky" being played by a robot and you are as close to what RealSteel is about as you can get. Besides the novelty of Robot Rocky,there is only the usual estranged dad-and-son storyline with a littleuncanny romance thrown in. Considering that this is a Disney film, youcan expect to have your heartstrings tugged - and other predictablestuff.Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a has-been boxer who now travels thecountry promoting his tin-can fighter robot. He owes a lot of peoplemoney and he finds a way out of his predicament when he gets news thathis ex-wife has died in an accident, and he must attend the custodyhearing of his son Max (Dakota Goyo, who was last seen in "Thor").Charlie practically "sells" his son off to his ex-wife's sister (HopeDavis) and her filthy-rich hubby (James Rebhorn) for adoption.For the time being, however, Charlie is stuck with Max who also happensto be a fan of video games and robot boxing. Together, and with thehelp of Charlie's girlfriend Bailey (Evangeline Lilly), they patch upused robots for tournaments. When they come across an obsolete sparing'bot named Atom, Max sees potential in it as an underdog droid capableof taking on the top robots in the Real Steel matches."Real Steel" holds thrills for boxing fans because the action is asgruelling and crunching as the human matches. Top that up withrealistic-looking effects, we even feel for those boxing machines -just as we have felt for droids like R2D2 and C3PO in the "Star Wars"sagas. Among the human cast, Jackman is in top form as the debt-riddenhustler of a dad who finds a match in his own flesh-and-blood. Indeed,Goyo steals the show as the Dr Pepper-guzzling kid who is highlyconfident in himself and his abilities. Together, Jackman and Goyoexude fantastic screen chemistry.Lilly (of TV's "Lost") provides the requisite feminine presence asCharlie's long-suffering girlfriend but the relationship poses somedisturbing questions for viewers: like, what is a pretty girl like herdoing, waiting for a loser like Charlie when she can have any guy shewants? And as can be expected, another winning performance comes fromAtom the cute 'junkyard dog' that dances like a butterfly and takesheavy beatings without flinching. Another entertaining family treatfrom Disney. (Full review at limchangmoh.blogspot.com)

Sunny Kanagi 2012-05-18 01:00:03

You've got to be kidding me!

This one was a total clichéd Hollywood movie. The movie began well withlots of hope that this movie was going to be a stunner, but I guess Iwas wrong. let me put it in simpler words. You would predict the movie before itseven over. The good things about the movie were Hugh Jackman, some good actionscenes, new movie concept about Robots boxing and not humans.Bad things were clichéd story and how everything seems to work well forthe kid and his father throughout the movie. Everyone seems to bereally agreeable in this movie. The kid does manage to get on yournerves and so does many other actors.The movie failed to evoke any emotions during the second half. I waspast caring about any of the characters. I cried watching Kung FuPanda-2 but not this movie.One thing i can say for sure is that a 10 year old kid would definitelylove this movie and suckers for typical clichéd and corny Hollywoodfilms.And if this movie managed to win an Oscar I would certainly be shocked.

breathacker 2012-05-17 16:19:26

Amazing movie

This movie is amazing and i liked it show much. Great Performance byJackman. Really loved it and Exciting movie. Really perfectcast,perfect script,perfect direction,and perfect ending.The acting isone of the best strengths of this movie. It is excellent. Extra creditsshould be given to Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo.Good narration,excellent script, effects are super and state of the art direction.Therobots are amazing,so good you are not sure when it is them or specialEffects.Loads of Action, good acting, suspense, thrill, emotions, goodfor kids too, unlike transformers which has humor. and the lead femaleis Aamzing!! Meand My girlfriend Loved it. I got reward by mygirlfriend for this movie. Thanks Huge and Company. Thanks To RealSteel.

Jonny Fendi 2012-05-17 13:22:53

Robots with A Heart? Awesome!

How to make boxing can be accepted by young children? In thiz case, theanswer is "Real Steel". The Director Shawn Levy cleverly turns therough boxing matches into fun, passionate and enjoyable familyadventure by presenting attractive and super cool Robot figures. Levyis previously known for "Cheaper by the Dozen" (2003) and "Night at theMuseum" (2006). For me, he seems to know how to roll the dice ofexcitement. Besides being effective in constructing believable andpowerful Robot fights, thiz movie also has a heartwarming story offather and son relationship. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a formerprofessional boxer who turns out to be Robot-fight promoter, just methis 11-year-old son he never knew before, Max (Dakota Goyo). Instead ofCharlie teaches life lessons to his son, Max. On the contrary, Max hasbeen inspiring his father how to win World Robot Boxing championship,but more than that is about how to win life. There are some encouragingand gratifying scenes. One of them is when Max and his Robot Atom showtheir dance moves. On the other side, I can almost say thiz is probablythe most humane character that ever played by Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman.While the father's character looks troubled and typical anti-hero, butit's relatively effective to gain sympathy. Spoiler Alert! The finalscene reminds us of first "Rocky" (1976) where the hero didn't have towin the match, but he certainly won the heart of audience. Max showshis big heart by saying "It sounds pretty good to me". Robots with aheart? Awesome! Visit My Blog on JONNY'S MOVEE: http://jonnyfendi.blogspot.com

not_your_buddy 2012-05-17 00:10:59

Live Action Rockem Sockem Robots

The great thing about boxing movies is the journey of the boxer. We seehim at his lowest, watch him as he rises through sheer determinationand hard work, and then cheer him on in the epic final bout (usually aDavid vs Goliath contest). These movies pull at our heartstrings andremind us of The American Dream where even the lowliest poorest manthrough hard work and persistence can rise to the top.However, in Real Steel we are expected to cheer on... the boxing coach?Don't get me wrong the kid and dead beat dad redemption back story isokay, but this movie just can't connect with you like a Rocky or RagingBull can. There is no emotion during the boxing matches and you don'tfeel the boxer's pain nor his redemption.Instead we are just left watching two mindless machines wail away oneach other for a few minutes while the crowd awkwardly gets way tooworked up (see the crowd in the final match). As for the final match?Yeah, its there and yes its a Rocky clone except since its not man vsman it feels pretty soulless and meaningless.So yeah, its pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a live actionRockem Sockem Robots movie. You see one robot fight in this movieyou've seen them all as sadly there are no killer attachments likebuzzsaws or guns on any of these robots. Real Steel is certainly adecent flick, but considering the Transformer's movies have moreimaginative and grandiose robot battles and even Iron Man #1 had thatawesome final robot fight it won't provide you with much you haven'tseen before.

Žiga T. Štrukelj 2012-05-16 09:42:31

Meh.

If we look at the cast first: Hugh Jackman was brilliant as ever andwas also a major reason why I watched this movie. Kevin Durand isawesome as well, you hate him, yet you find him appealing. EvangelineLilly doesn't really play a big part in the movie, but she does itwell.Dakota Goyo. Now he played his role perfectly, he was convincing, therewere emotions, but... he is the star of the show. And we all know whatthat means. Yup, its a kid film. Directors really need to understandthat a 12 year old isn't as mature as a 30 year old and doesn't act inthe same way. And writing a script, where a child has the same capacityand reactions as an adult... it just isn't natural. It looks like achild, but it isn't really. This really ruined the movie for me, notjust this one, any movie that wants to have a child main star (see ADolphins Tale, The Super 8, etc). The movie itself delivers great atmosphere - you will cheer, you skinwill shiver, you will be excited, so emotions will be present,especially at the end. But when you see it through, you will get thisfeeling you've seen this move 6 times already. It really resembles anyRocky film made so far, just that there are now robots involved.Final conclusion: not bad, but not great. There are worse and there arebetter titles.

t kim 2012-05-15 12:41:20

Awesome Movie

When I first read about this movie I thought it was going to be a guymovie filled w/ nothing but fighting etc. However I'm very impressed bythis movie.It's got a great plot, which was actually followed without too muchstraying. The actors/actresses were great for their parts. Great familyget together movie (especially if you have a lot of boys).The only thing that disappointed me was that the boy didn't get to staywith his father at the end. If I were to change anything it would bethat alone.I fount myself laughing as well as doing that "Aww how sweet" thing.Great movie! Must watch

Damion J. Rowan 2012-05-14 21:44:27

Unless you're under the age of 12, seriously...don't bother.

When this film was first announced about a year ago, I immediatelyadded to my film schedule months in advance: It had a cool name andhey, it was a movie with robots and the always hot Hugh Jackman! Thenthe trailer came out, and the story was revealed to be touching familyfilm about a dad and his estranged son with robots thrown in. A sweetfamily film? Ugh. I immediately took it off my viewing schedule. Thenthe reviews came out, and even Entertainment Weekly gave it anexcellent review, saying that it is actually way better than you wouldexpect. Pair that with big box office, and my curiosity started to comearound again. Finally, it got an Oscar nomination for Best VisualEffects, and thus, I no longer had a choice.And I am here to tell you that you should not believe everything you'veheard...my initial reaction was wrong, my second one was right: "RealSteel" is a big load of absolute junk.Set in 2020 or something, when boxing has been replaced by robots,Jackman plays Charlie, an ass ex-boxer who impregnated a girl and whoseson comes back to haunt him fourteen years later when she passes away."Forced "to spend a summer with this kid, they realize they bond overboxing robots. Robots, mind you, that seem to FEEL something when theyare hit (like, c'mon...).With an absolutely juvenile script that is just as much pieced togetherfrom every cliché family movie just as some of these robots are piecedtogether with junk, "Real Steel" is nothing more than a high-techLifetime movie with one of the most preposterous scripts of the year.Every line is meant to tug at your heartstrings and make you feel fuzzyinside when it's not trying to impress you with its mediocre visualeffects. It's tries to be nothing but "cute" from start to finish, sosaccharine that it quickly ends up nauseating.Right down to the kid using "shadow technology" to make his robot dosome silly hip hop dance moves. Like, really? What person over the ageof twelve enjoyed this film? "Real Steel" is nothing more than a scrapyard of emotional manipulation that really has no redeeming qualitiesfor any adult. But yeah, your kids will probably like it.

David Ferguson 2012-05-14 07:21:02

A Boy and his Robot

Greetings again from the darkness. Director Shawn Levy brought us the"Night at the Museum Movies" and I guess that's about the same audiencehe is after with this one. You probably won't get this comparisonanywhere else, but "Dreamer" with Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning isthe film that this one most reminds me of - A spunky kid trying toprove everyone wrong in an against all odds competition. But I wouldnot put this one at the level of Dreamer, which had better performancesand a much better script.Hugh Jackman is a pompous, bombastic, self-centered hustler who triesto stay one step ahead of the collectors chasing him. He is alwayslooking for a big score in the robot boxing game. What? You aren'tfamiliar with this sport? Well the film is set in not too distantfuture, but the only thing I could tell had evolved was the technologyof robots and video games. Jackman's world gets jacked up when his 11year old son (Dakota Goyo) is thrust into his life after the motherdies. Yes, he has been an absentee father and the kid is ridiculouslysmart and cute.The two of them set off to make noise in the robot fight world with adilapidated old model that they rescue from the junk yard. There arevery few surprises along the way, but father and son develop a bondthanks to the success of their robot.Supporting work is provided by Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, KevinDurand, Hope Davis and James Rebhorn. These are all competent actorswho deliver fine work, but there is nothing special to the script. Theone thing that makes this one a little different and will certainlyappeal to 10-12 year old boys, is the fighting robots. The fights areaction-packed and enjoyable to watch. They actually look like boxingmatches ... only with metal creatures, who for some reason are built tomimic human movement.There have been countless other robot movies: Transformers,Bicentennial Man (Robin Williams), I Robot (Will Smith) and, of course,Lost in Space! Don't expect much more from this than those.