This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to be invited as a guest at the world premiere of Real Steel.

I remember seeing the first trailer and thinking “Hmm, I’ll wait to get that on Netflix.”  I mean, could there really be a decent plot behind a movie with fighting robots?  Boy, I  was I off the mark on that one!

The movie opens at a rodeo where Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is preparing to pit his robot “Ambush” against an 800-pound bull. But he gets hustled by the rodeo owner and the robot “gets the horns.” After Ambush is rammed to pieces, Charlie splits to avoid paying the debt.

Later, Charlie gets word that he has to appear in court to sign over his rights to his son, Max (Dakota Goyo).  He ends up cutting a deal with the new “father” for $100,000 and gets to keep him for the summer, against his will.

Although the two butt-heads at first, they later reconcile their emotions after Max has a near-death accident in a junk yard and inadvertently discovers a robot named Atom.

Atom leads them on a steel-crushing adventure as they try to make their way to the top of the World Robot Boxing league by challenging the never-defeated champion, Zeus.

I would definitely recommend watching this action-packed movie! Real Steel has something for everyone; it’s not just for guys. I laughed, I was held on the edge of my seat and I even noticed people around me getting a little teary-eyed (Me?  Not so much!)  The movie’s soundtrack is the perfect complement for all those hyped-up fighting scenes too. 

One caution before you take the little ones – there are a few swear-words and one scene where Charlie and Max get beat-up for a bad debt.  

The movie opens on October 7th, and you better believe I’ll be hitting theaters with my nephew that night! Check out the trailer below: