But then, other smaller things faintly hint at something more. He mimics the kid, which gives off the impression that he is doing just what his function calls for. What’s interesting is that we find Atom reciprocating it, his actions explained as the result of the rare shadow function he’s been fitted with. He feels connected to the robot, which is largely because by that time his father is not responsive to the love he wants to feel and is still grieving the death of his mother.
However, soon enough, Max turns him into a fighter due to his sheer will. At this point, he has not been plugged in and is just another junk in the yard. The emotional factor with him is introduced when he saves the life of Max. This emotional attachment gives the necessary weight to the story, but it also toys with the idea of how much Atom can actually feel. This gives a human air to him and as thousands of people cheer for him in the fight against Zeus, we feel the force of his punches on his opponent and wince at every strike he endures. Over the course of events, the robot becomes an important part of the Kenton family, with every single person getting attached to him as they would to any other human. One of the things that ‘Real Steel’ hints at but never quite explores is the nature of Atom. In what turns out to be a close call, Zeus wins the challenge, but it becomes clear that Atom has emerged as the true hero of the fight. This technicality leaves the decision of winning the challenge on the overall judge’s scores.
In all of the rounds, neither Zeus nor Atom had been properly defeated, with both getting saved by the bell and surviving for the next round. In the final round, Charlie and Atom fight as one and they succeed in smashing Zeus, though not completely defeating him. Max advises him to fight using shadow mode. By the final round, some of his functions are damaged and he doesn’t respond to Charlie’s voice commands. He is beaten to a pulp several times but perseveres, and in the process, wins over the audience. The fight with Zeus looks like a suicidal quest for Atom, but the robot proves his mettle once again and survives one round after another. Later, however, he starts to miss him and when Zeus accepts the challenges, he goes back to Max, apologizes to him for all that he had done, and asks for a chance to make amends. He decides to drop him back at Marvin and Debra’s. This leads Charlie to reflect on his lifestyle and how it affects Max. He beats him and takes away all the money he had won. In the spur of the moment, Max challenges Zeus to a fight. Things heat up for Charlie when Ricky catches up with him. With little to no hope of winning, they start to turn heads when Atom makes it out of the first round and then beats Twin Cities. Charlie jumps at the offer, believing it would solve all of his monetary problems, but Max says that Atom is not for sale. A surprise arrives for the Kenton duo when they are invited to the Zeus suite, where Ferra Lemkova offers to buy Atom for a substantial sum of money. His first fight is against Twin Cities, and Charlie believes that they might not make it out of this one. The EndingĪs Atom wins fights, he starts to turn into a local legend and soon enough, finds his way to the League matches. Charlie agrees to this and as Max accompanies him on his quest to make money through robot fighting, they discover an outdated robot named Atom abandoned in a junkyard. The only catch here is that Charlie needs to keep Max for a month because Debra and Marvin have a trip planned to Italy that they cannot cancel. He sees this as an opportunity and gets Debra’s rich husband, Marvin, to pay for giving away Max to them. Debra, Max’s aunt, tries to get his custody, but Charlie needs to sign off on it.
It turns out that his eleven-year-old son, whom he had abandoned a long time ago, has no one but him now. He is drowning in debt and running away from the ones whom he owes money when the news of his ex-girlfriend’s death is delivered to him. However, no matter how strong a robot he has, he always loses, mostly because of his ill-timed decisions. Charlie Kenton is an ex-boxer who is trying to make some money through the business of robot fighting.