Metacritic Movie Ratings
Real Steel Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 91

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

  Real Steel is directed by "Night at the Museum's" Shawn Levy, who makes good use of his specialized skill in blending people and computer-made imaginary things into one lively, emotionally satisfying story.

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• 75

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  Real Steel is a real movie. It has characters, it matters who they are, it makes sense of its action, it has a compelling plot. This is the sort of movie, I suspect, young viewers went to the "Transformers" movies looking for.

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• 70

  out of 100

  Variety

  The uncanny thing about Real Steel is just how gripping the fight scenes are; Sugar Ray Leonard served as a consultant to the motion-capture performers responsible for pantomiming the machines' moves.

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• 60

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey

  As it happens, this recycled reclamation of underdogs saga is neither as bad as it sounds nor quite as good as it could be.

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• 60

  out of 100

  Village VoiceNick Pinkerton

  Based very loosely on a short story by "I Am Legend" author Richard Matheson, Real Steel in fact comes closer to road-bonding movies featuring children and hesitant papas: "Paper Moon" or "Over the Top," say.

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• 50

  out of 100

  The New York TimesStephen Holden

  An underdog drama with clanging metal-on-metal action, Real Steel feels scientifically programmed to claw at your heart while its battling robots, which have a semblance of human personality, drum up your adrenaline. That said, I'm not sure that the movie itself has more than a semblance of a heart.

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• 50

  out of 100

  USA TodayStaff [Not Credited]

  It's an odd blend - a sentimental story in a futuristic world of brutal machine-maneuvered fights. There are some ringside thrills, but it's not a seamless mesh.

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• 50

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy

  This punishingly predictable tale will test whether sci-fi action fanboys can stomach having their cherished genre infiltrated by sentimental hokum about a down-on-his-luck dad and his spunky long-lost son.

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See all Real Steel movie reviews at Metacritic.com