Okay, folks, the Christmas season is over, and the disappointment of a cold dark winter is neck deep upon us, at least as long as we’re in the northern hemisphere. But I’ve got a little something here that ought to put some spark in those long cold nights. The folks out at Dreamworks sent over a copy of Real Steel for us to review, and if you ever thought that Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots was just for pansies, well, brace yourself for a whole lot of robot fighting joy.

Real Steel follows Charlie Kenton, a has-been boxer who turned small-time promoter after his career went south on him. Times are hard for Charlie, sufficiently so that his girlfriend left him and took Charlie’s son along. But when Charlie–and his son–manage to find an old sparring robot buried under about six inches of mud (thanks to the intervention of a timely rainstorm), Charlie may have just what he needs to get his career back on track, get his family–such as it is–back together, and brawl his way to the top of the robot boxing circuit.

Okay, so it’s formulaic like no tomorrow. I mean, seriously, when the box cover says “It’s Rocky with Robots” you don’t know whether to agree or roll your eyes at how SPECTACULARLY OBVIOUS that conclusion is. Yes, of course it’s Rocky with robots. We all kind of figured that the first time we saw the trailer. I mean, what’s next: “It’s a movie!” But aside from that, yes, it is Rocky with robots. And as such, it has a certain combination of pluses and minuses to it. You know what’s coming. You have a pretty good idea how it will all turn out. But at the same time, it’s fun. It’s abundantly fun. The idea that Rocky could be done with robots is more than a bit of a surprise, and the execution is spectacular.

The material may be old and tired, but man, did they put it together well. It’s not every movie that can get my pulse racing, and Real Steel did a terrific job of doing exactly that. It’s terrific fun, and more than worth your time to watch.

The Screenhead Ten Scale is glad to be back, and gives Real Steel an eight out of ten. Sometimes even the oldest, most tired material out there can really spark when it’s got a little extra juice in it, and Real Steel’s got juice sufficient to power a dozen fighting robots.