RoboCop |
  • USA • 2014 • 117m •    • Directed by: José Padilha. • Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jennifer Ehle, Jay Baruchel, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Samuel L. Jackson, Aimee Garcia, Douglas Urbanski, John Paul Ruttan. • Music by: Pedro Bromfman.      The year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years - and it's meant billions for OmniCorp's bottom line. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it. When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) - a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit - is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine pursuing justice.
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Well, he doesn't roar, but rather makes a silly sound, and you'll think you're gonna be in for a painful ride, but we are suddenly introduced to Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Pat Novak, a political commentator who has his own TV show and is mostly biased toward the democratic side. He explains that the American military has deployed new drones and a robot army to help with the conflicts overseas, and eventually these machines will replace human soldiers so that no more lives will be lost. Among these machines are the ED-209's. This scene, where Novak has his film crew overseas to investigate them in action is highly intense with a good but of comedy, as we saw in the original film with their interrupted TV programs and commercials. Jackson pops up from time to time on his TV show to further the advancement that the American people need to get on board with these robots wiping out crime not only overseas but in the states.
But the American people want to connect with someone, not something, so Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton, excellent), the CEO of OmniCorp, decides to put a human inside one of these machines. Enter Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman), a police detective who goes undercover to stop the big bad guys of Detroit (Sorry, Dallas is not the backdrop of Detroit this time around). Of course, Murphy suffers a tragic accident and becomes Robocop. But here is where the story takes a different path than the original. Murphy's wife and son play a significant role in this remake, and receive quite a bit of screen-time. And of course, the studio is betting on this having a few sequels, so this is mostly a big set-up for future films. Sure Robocop dons the suit, which they, for most of the film make it a black tactical armor more than the silver bulky suit, but don't fret it does show up.
But the bad villains that were so iconic and merciless in the first film, take a backseat in this remake. This is more about Murphy struggling with being part human and part machine and the free-will that exists inside all of us, no matter how forced we are to follow the rules or programs. And Padilha does this quite effortlessly. Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman), is the leading doctor in replacing amputated limbs with robotic limbs with artificial intelligence in wounded soldiers and civilians. And he is assigned to Murphy's case with OmniCorp. His performance is of course, excellent and we genuinely root for him, even though he does some questionable things. I have a feeling he will be playing a much bigger role in the coming sequels.
But his interactions with Murphy becomes more or less a fatherson relationship, and it works. The action sequences are intense and loud, especially seeing this in IMAX, which I highly recommend. The gun shots are robust and make you feel you are in the center of the action. Although, there is never one point in the film where you will really feel that Robocop is in any real danger. No matter if he is fighting off 60 robots or 60 humans with large guns and explosives, he easily takes them out with minimal damage to himself. They changed up Murphy's partner from a female to a male with Michael K. Williams (Omar from 'The Wire'), who plays Jack Lewis. He is great in this role, but there isn't the chemistry there yet, and he felt underused.
Then there is the great Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach from 'Watchmen'), who plays the weapons expert for OmniCorp and does not take a liking to Robocop. He taunts him during training exercises with some hilarious pieces of music and a familiar piece of dialogue. There isn't a great showdown with Robocop and ED-209 like in the original. Instead, we have a scene where several ED-209's are attacking Robocop as he flies through the air in his motorcycle. That being said, the ED's are still very menacing and might serve as a great battle in a future film. Kinnaman takes Robocop in a different direction than Weller did in the original. He has more emotion and we can relate to him more. He is a great actor and dons the suit well.
Also, Jay Baruchel ('This is The End') shows up as a marketing executive for OmniCorp and provides some good laughs. Pedro Bromfman provides an okay score at bet, but he does give us that iconic score from the original, which was great to hear. If you are expecting tons of blood and guts in this film, like there was in the original, you won't find it here. However, there are some scenes that might just be on par with the high level of gore from the first film when we see Murphy transforming into Robocop.
It's a different take, and one that is well made and thought out. It actually works better than the original here, and gives us more of a back story and connection with our hero. This reboot of 'Robocop' is worth seeing. Is it better than the original? Probably not, but it is one hell of a fine-made film, and I can't wait to see the next one, as I imagine it will deal mostly with Robocop in the original suit on the dangerous streets of Detroit. Hell, we may even get Clarence Boddicker in the next one.
Review by Bryan Kluger from the Internet Movie Database.
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Feb 25 2014, 18:57
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