Real Steel (2011)

In the near future, boxing involving flesh-and-blood participants has been banned.  It has been replaced by boxing matches between super-charged robots.  Former fighter Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a down-on-his-luck, robot boxing promoter.  He seems to owe everybody money.  After running out on a bet that he lost to Ricky (Kevin Durand), one of his former opponents, Charlie learns that an ex-girlfriend has passed away.  The ex-girlfriend's sister, Debra (Hope Davis), wants no trouble out of Charlie as she and her rich husband want custody of Max (Dakota Goyo), the child Charlie fathered with the late woman.

When Charlie learns that Debra and her husband Marvin (James Rebhorn) are going on an extended getaway, he bleeds money out of  Marvin under the guise of wanting to watch Max while they're gone.  Charlie's plans to leave Max with Bailey (Evangeline Lilly), the owner of the gym where Charlie used to train is changed when Max decides he's going with him.  Turns out that Max loves robot boxing, and besides, he believes Charlie owes him for running out on him after he was born.  After a dangerous moment on the road, Max finds Atom, a robot that he intends to make a winner out of -- with Charlie's help, of course.

This is a different sort of entry into the genre of boxing movies.  I couldn't help but think of that old kids' game called Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots while I was viewing this film.  The fight scenes are nicely done, and the interaction between Charlie and Max is nice.  However, the movie is pleasant, nothing more.  The plot devices here have been seen too many times, and audiences know the outcomes.

Anthony Mackie, who played an arrogant boxer in the movie Million Dollar Baby, appears here as a guy who runs underground robot boxing matches.