Can you imagine in a distant future when men got bored of watching a human giving a beat down to another human?  Where flesh are replaced by mechanical brutes pushing violent sports to the limits.  This is 2020. The year when Robot Boxing becomes extremely popular among junkies and capitalists.  Welcome to the Real Steel.

Ok let's face it, the story template is unoriginal.  So what?  Even Harry Potter's story template is not so original together with most great movies in the past.  But they are getting the raves.  For me it doesn't really matter where an idea comes from.  What matters most is where you will take it.  With what Real Steel showed us, the film gives a bigger opportunity to create a vast universe for itself thus giving it a possible richer sequel.  They don't even need to stop on boxing.  There are a lot of sports out there and I'm sure people are more willing to see robots playing Basketball, Volleyball or even synchronized swimming.  Real Steel has a brighter future and seeing that makes the film excellent on its own way.

Reel Steal also fascinates me with it's good set of lead characters.  I'm so relieved that Max is not just your ordinary kid on a movie.  Usually, kids are added on the film just to say that it is kid oriented.  Dakota serves his purpose in marketing but he achieved more than that by playing a very complex boy.  Much like John Connor of the early Terminator movies.  He is not your average kid.  He is smart, outspoken, determined and not to mention a good dancer.  Though at times he becomes very annoying, Dakota definitely won my heart.

Charlie Kenton (Jackman) is a complete opposite of Max.  He is not just a greedy douche but also a big idiot who just fights for money.  Obviously a character you won't love.  But under the ugly character of Charlie is a scarred fighter who's hunted by his past failures and regrets.  Good thing they gave the role to Jackman because the character's background as a failed boxer is not explicitly emphasized not until on the later part of the film.  Audience may grow hating the character of Charlie specially that Max's character is shining all the way.  But with Hugh on board as Charlie, audience may give the character a chance to develop and not judge it for what it explicitly show on screen.  In the end you will still love him.

Designing the world of Real Steel is definitely not a very easy job.  Year 2020 is just a decade away from us and what the world will look like in 10 years definitely matters on this film.   It could be just easy if they just throw a lot of fancy futuristic designs there but they decided to think it over.  The design is a good combination of futuristic and contemporary.  The design team had created a high tech world but at the same time they preserved what looks primitive.  Technology can be progressive in a couple of years but architectural designs may look  the same.  This makes the designs more realistic and natural.

And bottom line, the movie got a heart.  It is an underdog story that many people can relate to.  I guess that is what really matters.  Definitely a perfect family flick for everyone.  I'm also looking forward for the sequel.  Maybe this time with mix martial arts sports.  That would be cool.

Directed by Shawn Levy starring Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Kevin Durand, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Olga Fonda and Karl Yune.  Opening today (October 12) across the Philippines in IMAX and regular theaters, “Real Steel” is a DreamWorks Picture to be distributed locally by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.