If you’re a fan of films like Rocky, Cinederlla Man, and Ali, you’re no doubt looking forward to the release of David O. Russell’s (Three Kings) The Fighter, but quite possibly thinking that what the next big boxing film needs, is eight-foot high robots smashing the steel off one another; something which Real Steel promises to deliver.
Adapted from a short story by Richard Matheson, Real Steel is set in the not-too-distant future; where the public’s desire for violence has outgrown what any human fighter can endure; where boxing has become a thing of the past, and ex-boxers have taken to training up large robots to fight in their stead, because while “the human body can only take so much, the steel never stops.”
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) leads the film as one such ex-boxer; a former professional named Charlie Kenton, who’s fallen on hard times, and now scrapes out a living by hustling robot matches in an illegal underground league; constantly waiting for that big payday.
Charlie’s chance at the big-time comes when he’s forced to reconnect with the son he abandoned as a baby (Dakota Goyo, Defendor), and the pair begin to restore an old sparring robot named Atom, and attempt to turn him into a true championship contender; pinning all their hopes of a comeback on the once junked ‘bot.
Kevin Durand (Robin Hood) also stars; as a promoter named Ricky; in the Shawn Levy (Date Night) directed movie which used real-life boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard as a fight consultant (the straight right to the ‘balls’ comes straight from him), but isn’t due to be released until October 7th, 2011.
