Chris Reviews Robocop

The original Robocop is one of the best Sci-fi/Action movies of all time and is my personal favorite movie. So obviously there was little chance that a modern remake was going to top the original for me. The real question was whether I hated it or not. Is this just another terrible remake that has become so common in the film industry today or a solid restart to a Robocop franchise?

The Good-

Well the first bit of good news is that the film is not terrible. Director Jose Padilha (Elite Squad) proves that he knows how to do action as the film is littered with slick looking action sequences. The film also attempts to tackle the drone issue albeit clumsily. I actually really liked the opening scene where it shows how the United States has used robots and drones to pacify the rest of the world and specifically in Tehran.I also enjoyed Samuel Jackson in this who is fun as the host of a TV show that is constantly pushing for robotics to become legal for police use in the United States.

The Bad-

The cast is pretty bland overall with the exception of Samuel Jackson. Joel Kinnaman is pretty lame and generic as Alex Murphy and the film spends a lot of time with him and his family. They go to great lengths to show Alex Murphy before and then his transformation into Robocop. This seems like a great idea on paper but it feels really forced and is made worse by the boring performances by Kinnaman and his family. The worst aspect of this film though are the villains. It seems like the writers couldn't make up their minds about who they wanted to be the villain. There is the bad arms dealer guy who has zero development and you know nothing about him except for being told he is a bad guy. Then you have Michael Keaton as the CEO of OCP who seems like he is trying to help but then he instantly turns bad. His motivations are very simplistic but they are constantly changing and the character really just doesn't make any sense. There is also Mattox (Jackie Earle Haley) who is in charge of the drones at OCP and hates Robocop because he is human. I think that is my main issue with this film in that they tried to make it all about Murphy's transformation into Robocop and then put no thought into the actual crime story. The story essentially becomes a 5th graders interpretation of the original movies story.

Summary-

I tried really hard to look at this movie objectively and not in comparison to the original. From that perspective this is a middle of the road modern action film that will likely entertain the average moviegoer as it hits all the beats it should. From the perspective of a huge fan of the original this is a forgettable attempt to remake a classic. You can't remake a Paul Verhoeven movie, he has such a unique style and skill at social satire that can't be matched. They tried to do it with Total Recall in 2012 and this film doesn't get any closer to achieving that goal. Instead of paying the 8 bucks to go see this in theaters, go to amazon and buy the remastered version of the original on blu-ray.

MY RATING- 

2.5 out of 5

-Chris "Da Franchize" Hart