Real Steel (2011)

Fitting in well with the fighting films I’ve been watching, Real Steel is a cross between the Rocky and Transformers series, imagining 2020 as a year where robots have replaced humans in the sport of boxing. If only that were the biggest concern of 2020. Hugh Jackman is a former human boxer and wannabe robot champion owner who reunites with his estranged son after the son’s mom dies. Are orphaned children foisted on estranged parents in real life as often as they are in movies? The movie is super predictable. The son is of course a precocious wannabe owner himself and there’s a shoehorned love interest played by Evangeline Lilly. The only surprise was that I kept expecting a turn where the son wasn’t even his as Jackman was taken aback multiple times when he was told the kid was older than he expected.

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Visual Effects