A few elements of Real Steel seem to be decidedly upsetting. Firstly, that Hugh Jackman agreed to take the lead role in this sentimental sci-fi mash up. Secondly, that the film received, judging by the CGI and elaborate production, an extremely healthy amount of funding. Most discouragingly, that the only original material Hollywood can produce is a film about robot boxers.

Set in the near future, the film sees Charlie (Jackman), a former boxer turned robot trainer, trying to make ends meet after being lumbered with his Justin Beiber look-a-like son (Dakota Goyo) from a previous relationship following his mother’s death – a subject the film spends all of two lines on and that neither Jackman nor his son seems particularly choked up about, but that’s unimportant. All that matters is the against-all-odds team up of a reluctant father and a mature-beyond-his-years son to fight boxing robots.

After finding a retired robot in a scrapyard, Jackman, with his son in tow, attempts to navigate his way through the robot boxing circuit with an economic incentive that also seems to be the primary intention of the film. Throughout their journey, the audience learns that they both have something to teach each other, as an obstinate Charlie bonds with his determined son. Disappointingly, most of these moments are spent counting down to the main event: huge lumps of futuristic metal tearing each other to shreds. Charlie poignantly says to his son, “people want to see something they’ve never seen.”

Certainly this film is a novelty, as most audiences have probably never encountered eight-foot killing machines trying to beat each other to death. Originality is not everything, however – as this film is testament to.

Despite the unconvincing plot, the graphics, robot models and boxing choreography are actually enjoyable surface level entertainment. Nevertheless, this is essentially an unashamed, bot-bashing, blockbuster of a film littered with conspicuous product placement. Favouring jabs and upper cuts over emotional depth, the film fails to knock the audience out. Real Steel really steals over two hours of your life.