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Real Steel (12A)

Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

Set in the near future, where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling promoter feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top, he discovers he has an 11-year-old son who wants to know his father.


The critical consensus

Only those with a heart of tin could resist.

***(*)(*)Jamie Graham, Total Film, 07/10/2011

Rocky with robots? It’s not quite in Balboa’s weight class, but Real Steel at least has some heft. There’s barely a story beat among the beat-downs that you won’t expect, and sometimes the saccharine gets in the way of the spectacle, but on the whole this is enjoyable family entertainment.

***(*)(*)James White, Empire Online, 10/10/2011

Big, dumb, but certainly fun.

Lewis Bazley, Little White Lies, 13/10/2011

With a lot more focus and a smart re-write, Real Steel could have been a neat companion piece to J J Abrams’s recent Spielberg-aping sci-fi adventure Super 8. Instead, like Atom itself, the lights may be on but there’s no evidence of a soul behind the flicker.

**(*)(*)(*)Robbie Collin, The Telegraph, 13/10/2011

Engaging performances make up for daft metal action plot.

Paul Greenwood, Evening Times, 13/10/2011

It's an incredibly cynical movie, written and acted by robots, and boasting the most flagrant piece of product-placement for a certain soft drink.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 13/10/2011

This is designed for 13-year-old boys who spend more time gaming than they ever do watching movies.

**(*)(*)(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 14/10/2011

If it isn't a knockout of a film it does secure a victory on points.

Allan Hunter, Daily Express, 14/10/2011

Real Steel does deliver some effectively co-ordinated fight sequences thanks to director Shawn Levy being canny enough to hire Sugar Ray Leonard as an advisor, but the corny father-son stuff is so wet it short-circuits its mechanical heart.

**(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 14/10/2011

Think Rocky meets Transformers - with full-fat cheese.

***(*)(*)Daily Record, 14/10/2011

Shawn Levy’s film punches above the usual emotional weight for a Disney movie, and that’s where the problems start.

**(*)(*)(*)Alison Rowat, The Herald, 13/10/2011

There's a certain poverty of imagination at work.

Philip French, The Observer, 16/10/2011

Sounds exciting, doesn't it? It isn't.

Nicholas Barber, The Independent on Sunday, 16/10/2011


Features about Real Steel (12A)

Real Steel cast and crew talk Sugar Ray Leonard's touch

Matt Chapman, Total Film, 20/09/2011

Hugh Jackman trains with Sugar Ray Leonard for new movie

Vidoe, The Telegraph, 03/10/2011

Real Steel: It's just like Rocky--with robots

John Hiscock, The Telegraph, 03/10/2011

Real Steel (12A)

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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