Real Steel is a whole lot of fun. If you go in looking for suspense, or great plot twists, or something like that you'll be disappointed. If you go in looking for a fun movie about getting your life together you'll be pleased. The special effects were very well done, and the robots totally rock.
Overall the movie is excellent, there is almost no downtime throughout. What took me by surprise is how much time you spend laughing - they really captured Batman's dry sense of humour.
There is a great balance of cheesy action flick and actual character development. Plus a twist they manage to not even hint at in the previews...a rare enough occurrence that it's worth supporting. BTW, this is not a kids movie - there is swearing and violence and the type of stuff you'd expect in a movie filmed in LA - don't get annoyed if you bring a 6 year old and they start repeating lines!